Down the Sn'aala Hole We Go
by NarundiJedi
Summary: Sequel to Jaina's Drunken Night and Hungover Morning! Brodey, Kyp, Jaina and the rest of the insane crew are back at it again, but this time with a few surprises. . .
1. Waking Up

His eyes opened to a blinding white familiarity and he was thrust once again into the peculiar dream by invisible hands. The hands shoved him harshly, taunting him the way a schoolyard bully might goad his prey. They left him, off the edge of a cliff, forcing him to stare into the eyes of his fate.

Brodaeus Narundi had grown tired of the never-ending cycle of this dream over the past four months. He stared at the same joyful faces time and again, searching for clues among the crowd, but each time he came up virtually empty. Every replay of the dream brought it more into focus and new clues fell out of the sky to hit him on the head. Once everything was pieced together it still had more holes than a fisherman's net, and that frustrated Brodey to no end. He felt like what he was looking for was being dangled just out of his reach. He felt like he was being tortured.

This time the faces told a slightly different story. Old ones faded into the background and new ones came into greater focus as the net was slowly patched. It was restless work for the twenty-year-old but the force left him no choice in the matter. He had to watch.

Brodey looked out into the congregation and his eyes glided over the many faces before they found the right one. Anja. She still sat to the right side of Jagged Fel, smiling back at him in the same way she always had since she first appeared in the dream. He didn't know why he always bothered to study her. Nothing about her presence ever became clearer. She was just there in the crowd instead of dressed in white, waiting in the foyer with bouquet in hand; where she was supposed to be.

A dark blur streaked across her chest and caught his eye. With greater focus he found it to be a human form. A child. The dark-haired boy squirmed on Anja's lap, restlessness setting in even before the ceremony started. His pale green eyes showed signs of needing a nap and his whimpering only accentuated that fact. Anja struggled to soothe him, bouncing him on her lap and whispering in his ear, but it was Jag, armed with a brightly-colored stuffed animal, that succeeded in calming the toddler.

_'That's something new,'_ Thought Brodey with both appreciation and annoyance.

He turned his head while hoping he could catch a glimpse of other possible clues. For the first time in the many months of the dream he thought to look beyond his father's form. He spotted four other men, three which he didn't recognize. The fourth man, the one standing closest to his father, was one he could never forget. Chaser. He'd been almost everything to Brodey. He was the best friend, the tour guide through the land of new experiences, the bad influence, and the bitter rival. Not to mention the one friend his father couldn't stand more than anyone else. Brodey thought it was a miracle they were standing right next to each other and not screaming at one another. Then again, the same thing could be said about him.

The cheerful music suddenly stopped and Brodey became aware of the woman in white standing in front of him. She'd just appeared out of no where, as she always seemed to do, and the hands pushed his head toward her so he couldn't ignore her if he tried. He reached up, trying to remove the veil quickly before he—

Brodey's hands barely came in contact with the fabric before he was catapulted up out of the room. He flew harmlessly through the ceiling of the Great Hall, across the swirling colors of N'aanwaria's gaseous skies, and across the black oblivion.

He landed in the usual spot, tangled in a mass of sweat-soaked sheets, still exhausted from the inadequate sleep. A swift glance at his chronometer as he rolled lazily over in bed told him it was time to rise and greet another mundane day on Eclipse.

Brodey stumbled out of bed with the grace and expression of an archaic primate-like creature. He groaned and grumbled his way down the hall of the quarters he shared with the jedi master Kyp Durron, scratching his chest and other areas of his body without giving much thought to what others might think of him.

"I see you're the usual cheerful Brodey this morning," Kyp called mockingly from their living room. The jedi master had a wonderful view of the hallway from where he was seated and it seemed like watching Brodey lurch out of bed in the morning was becoming a form of entertainment for Kyp. "And that's a great new hairstyle you've got there."

Brodey tried his best to mimic one of the vulgar gestures that were common among the humans he'd met before he quickly slammed the door to the fresher behind him. A nice, scalding shower was his only hope of waking up.

As the water cascaded over his sleep-weary muscles he allowed his mind to wander. He thought about the child, about who the father of the child could be, and about his former best friend being present. It all didn't make one bit of sense. He lamented the fact that Anja wasn't where he thought she was supposed to be in the picture. He ruminated for a while, growing warmer and slowly making the journey toward wakefulness. 

Brodey shut off the shower, opened the door, and reached quickly for the towel. He despised the cold air of the ship, always drying off inside the shower, surrounded by a blanket of warmth. It suited him well since he came from a planet where there was no cold. He easily could have died of hypothermia on some of the worlds he'd visited if not for the constant traveling he did as a child.

A noise jolted him from his reverie and he became distinctly aware that he was no longer alone in the room. He spun around just in time to see a figure outside the shower door, pulling on the handle.

"Ha!" Anja yelled, grinning evilly as she whipped open the door. The unbridled glee in her eyes fell a few notches when she found him guarding his dignity with a towel. However, the priceless look of shock on his fire-red face made up for whatever disappointment she was feeling, and Anja laughed heartily as he became more flustered.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that," He said tensely as he cinched the towel around his waist. 

"Why do you have such a problem with it?" Anja jeered. "You don't have anything to hide, do you?"

"Did anybody ever tell you that you have a one-track mind?" Brodey replied huffily. He stepped quickly out of the shower and pushed past her, heading for the door. Anja reached out to playfully yank on the towel, drawing a cross warning from her boyfriend.

"Just stop it right now!" Brodey growled threateningly.

Anja giggled and poked him, following him out into the hall. "Come now, where's your sense of humor? Don't you find it flattering that I want to catch a glimpse of you stark naked?"

Brodey sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'd find it flattering if I didn't know the real reason behind you sneaking a peek at me." The ladies had spent some rest and relaxation time together drinking and daring each other to do certain things. One of the things Anja was dared by a drunken Jaina who hadn't learned her lesson was to "report back" on Brodey's status. He'd been on high alert ever since.

"How come your jedi sense didn't pick up on my presence?" She teased. "What were you thinking about that distracted you so much?"

Brodey reached out, grabbed her by the shoulders and thrust her hard against the wall. "You talk too much," He said with a deep, throaty growl before pushing his lips against hers in a tight seal. He explored the inside of her open mouth with his tongue, marveling at how much of an improvement this was from her interrogation.

"Watch it kid. You wouldn't want to lose a towel there," Kyp called down the hall. "If you lose it then I'm going to have to come down there and beat you with the butt end of my lightsaber. You really don't want that."

"The man has a point," Brodey laughed, breaking away from Anja, who sighed with discontent. "I have to get dressed before I freeze to death."

"I can come in and keep you company," Anja suggested hopefully.

"Hah, think again," He snapped back before closing the door in her face.

Anja gave a guttural growl of frustration before stomping all the way down the hall and throwing herself on the couch across from Kyp.

"Awwww, trouble in paradise?" He asked mockingly, extracting a glare from the young woman.

"I just don't get why he won't let me see him like that," She whined. "I've been open with him!"

"I'll bet you have," Kyp laughed. "Tell me, did you do that on a dare too? Was that another mandate from the pack of evil females?"

"Shut up, Durron! It's not just about the dare. I'm a very open person and I just wish he'd reciprocate some of that," She said sadly as she pushed strands of her mocha hair back across her shoulders.

"You picked the wrong boyfriend," He replied sardonically. "Brodey's a mass of secrets, lies, and holding everything deep inside."

"I know, and I'm cool with that," She cried. "I just wish he wouldn't act like a jerk to me all the time! After he missed that dinner date last week I'm beginning to wonder if he really cares that much."

"You know why he missed that date, don't you?"

"Yeah, something about him being asleep and waking up hours later to my angry comm messages," She scoffed.

"Well, that's the truth," Kyp answered. "You shouldn't take that one too personally. He's been getting shavit for sleep lately. I always come home to find him sleeping at the weirdest times of the day."

"Why is his sleep so bad lately?" Anja asked inquisitively. 

Kyp thought for a second, wondering whether he should tell her about the dream. Surely a tiny bit of information couldn't hurt anything.

"He keeps on having the same dream," Kyp began vaguely, trying to avoid an in-depth discussion.

Anja seemed to pick up on his elusiveness, even with her lack of force sensitivity. "Oh? What's the dream about?"

"He keeps on dreaming of his wedding," Kyp said quickly, cringing inside as he waited to see what she would say.

Something in Anja's eyes lit up like the skyline of Coruscant from his words and she grinned with a child's joy.

"Happy?" Kyp questioned, raising an eyebrow in confusion at the young woman's reaction.

"I never thought he was that committed," She said, still smiling. "Here I am, thinking he's pulling away from me, and he's having dreams of marriage! I feel like such a dope!"

"Before you get too excited there's something you have to know," Kyp groaned.

"What's that?" Anja asked suspiciously.

"This particular dream is out of his control," Kyp explained. "The force keeps putting him through it nearly every night. Just thought you should know before you start attributing characteristics to Brodey that don't exist."

"Well, at least tell me if I'm in it," Anja snapped, growing more disconcerted with each passing moment.

"Durron, you're not telling her about the dream I told you to keep secret, are you?" Brodey drawled as he slinked into the living room, still buttoning up his collared shirt. "I hope not, because I really don't feel like getting bloodstains on this nice clean shirt."

"I haven't told her anything," Kyp said with a slight gulp as he ignored the dirty look that Anja shot him.

"Good. I wouldn't want you leaking out information that could be false. That might mess things up for some people, and I wouldn't want that," Brodey replied dubiously.

Kyp's brow knitted as he pondered the young man's words. Had he discovered something new? Perhaps Anja was also under the veil, proving that there was more than one possible outcome. Curiosity overwhelmed him rapidly and he wished there was an easy way to get rid of Anja so he could have a talk with his apprentice. Kyp Durron had never been a patient man.

"All right, woman. It's about time you took a hike to the kitchen so I can talk to your boyfriend," Kyp said dryly, clapping his hands together once like an owner trying to get the attention of his pet.

"Oh, of course! I'll just go to the kitchen and cook like a good wife while you two engage in 'man talk'!" She yelled sharply as she jumped from her seat and walked toward the kitchen, feigning a kick at Kyp as she went.

"I'll say it again," Kyp said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "I don't know how you put up with her."

"She only bothers you, Durron," Brodey replied, and then leaned in and lowered his voice. "Anyway, I have some new information about the dream."

"I figured that was it," Kyp interjected.

"My best friend at Academy was one of my groomsmen," Brodey hissed, fixing a serious stare on Kyp. "He was standing right next to my father. This is the same guy that got me addicted to spice and alcohol."

"Perhaps he cleaned up," Kyp suggested. "You managed to."

Brodey snorted at the jedi master's comment. "I had a lot of bad things happen to me. I doubt Chaser had the same kind of life-altering jolt that I had."

"That's probably true, but – " Kyp started. "Hey, cut that out!"

Anja ignored him and continued to dance around the kitchen, making up new words to a Naboo pop song that expressed her dislike for the two men in the living room as she fixed a blue milk shake.

"Ugh, can't you do us all a favor and teach that girl to sing?" Kyp complained.

"Sorry, I'm a jedi, not a miracle worker," Brodey laughed. "Anyway, Chaser wasn't the only amazing thing I saw. You're not going to believe th— "

Kyp sneered resentfully at the comlink on Brodey's hip as its beeping interrupted yet another important conversation. Jaina sure knew the best times to need Brodey's assistance.

"Narundi here," Brodey answered. "Yes, I'll be right down."

"Let me guess," Kyp laughed scornfully. "Her greatness needs you at the hangar again."

"Yup," Brodey said simply as he ran over to give a still-obnoxious Anja a kiss before he raced out the door.

"I guess it's just you and me, Durron," Anja said with mock-seduction. "Just you, and me, and the blue milk. . ."

Kyp Durron rolled his eyes once again and sank back into the couch.


	2. The Mission Is Doomed

Brodey's boots clicked on the durasteel floor as he passed through the docking bay door into the open hangar. Jaina sat perched atop a large wooden crate about 10 meters in front of him, having a quiet conversation with Jagged Fel, who was leaning against the same crate, his elbows resting on its surface.

Jaina's focus seemed to change to include Brodey's presence upon his arrival. Her gaze flickered once over in his direction as their conversation came to a halt.

"Welcome," She called out, clearing her throat. "Why don't you come here and join us?" 

Brodey seemed to remember Kyp describing a similar meeting, one where he was confronted for not being a part of the team. Something about the way he'd been invited to join their little gathering reeked of discord. He struggled to think of something he could have done wrong, but the worst thing he could think of was missing a sim session due to sleeping through his alarm. It was hardly on the same level as breaking a force connection in the heat of combat.

"What is this, another intervention?" Brodey mocked. "I thought we'd determined that I'm a jerk but you'd put up with me."

"Relax, Brodey," Jaina laughed. "If we were really fed up with you we'd just boot your sorry ass out the door!"

Brodey shot a forced smile back at her but otherwise ignored her comment. "So, why did you call me down here?"

"Well," She began. "It seems that somebody has been keeping tabs on you. He or she or whatever sent you this cryptic message. I don't know what it's about or what the sender's intentions are. I guess you should just check it out."

Brodey glanced down at the data chip she'd handed to him and over to the old comm unit connected to the control console. It was an older model but it would do. He wiped some of the dust from the screen and chip drive before inserting the chip and grimaced as a blue screen full of symbols was all that came up.

"When you said cryptic I had no idea you meant it was encrypted," Brodey mumbled, looking exasperated. He began to wish he had Chaser's company now instead of later. His addict friend had been a formidable hacker and could decode almost anything. It was a perfect example of how being strong in the force didn't amount to jack in certain circumstances.

"Let me see what I can do," Jag said, taking control of the console. Within a matter of seconds the blue screen vanished and a hooded figure appeared, bathed in shadows. "See, it was simple. You just have to know something about this model of comm, that's all."

"Shhh," Brodey commanded as he stared fixedly at the screen.

"Brodaeus T'naa'lichi Narundi," The figure stated, his voice altered to conceal his identity. He paused for a second, purposefully, letting Brodey's full name permeate the air and sink deeply into the young man's mind. The inflection of his voice made it seem almost like he was bragging. "Jedi Narundi, now affiliated with Twin Suns Squadron. I bear an urgent message for you and your closest friends. If you wish to see an end to the war with the Yuuzhan Vong then you will meet me out behind Sorte Ma at midnight in two day's time. Do not come with a full squadron or else I will choose not to show. The five of you will be sufficient. Until then, _y'aan'dai_."

The transmission ended, leaving all three staring at the screen, each of them for completely different reasons.

"What was that last word?" Jaina questioned. "I haven't been able to figure that out yet."

"Perhaps it's a dialect, or maybe even a completely different language," Jag suggested.

"It's N'aanwar. Loosely translated it means 'see you later'," Brodey said, his voice slightly panicked as he continued to gawk at the screen. "I haven't heard N'aanwar in years. It's obviously somebody from back home and they've been following me around, taking notes!"

The two watched in confusion as Brodey began to pace nervously around in small circles, running his hands through his hair in distress. "It's probably some bounty hunter, just trying to trick me into meeting him so he can kill me!"

"And you're going to let him?" Jaina asked with a smirk. "What could one little bounty hunter do to you?"

"He could do a whole lot if he brought a legion of Vong!" Brodey snapped. "He probably got some great ideas after witnessing that skirmish outside the club!"

"Well, what if this person is telling the truth? What if he has information that could help us?" Jag asked, interrupting Brodey's nervous rant. "Could we really live with it if we passed up a chance like that?"

"Jag's right," Jaina replied.

"Oh, of course Jag's right!" Brodey exclaimed sarcastically.

"Shut up, and that's an order," She said sternly and continued. "Brodey, the five of us really do make an unbeatable team. If we go in there expecting things to go wrong then we'll be prepared."

"I suppose it could be worth it," Brodey agreed reluctantly.

"Great, then get packing," Jaina ordered. "We leave as soon as we can."

"Shouldn't we inform my uncle of our departure?" Jag asked, placing a hand on her forearm.

"I'll take care of that," She said softly, standing up on her tiptoes to give him a gentle kiss. "You just go pack. Both of you."

"As your goddessness commands," Brodey answered with a bow, a smile returning to his face.

The two men left, leaving Jaina alone to struggle with the primitive comm unit.

"We should have splurged more on the equipment budget," She muttered to herself as she smacked a fist against the screen in frustration. She hoped that Wedge would understand the need for this unexpected journey. If they were successful with the mission then they would see an end to the war. Jaina Solo wanted nothing more than to see an end to the years of heartache at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong. She desperately hoped they would find the answers they needed.

~*~*~

The walls of the apartment shook from raucous music that could be heard clearly even before entering. Brodey cringed at the loud grating sounds as he pushed open the front door, feeling pain that was close to physical. Whatever had happened when he was gone definitely had pushed Kyp off the deep end. He reached out to assess his master's condition and felt a film of resentment from the older man along with abnormally high stress levels.

"Welcome back," Anja said pleasantly from her seat on the couch. She looked up from her datapad for a second to smile at him before taking a sip from her blue milkshake and turning back to what she was reading.

"What did you do to him?" Brodey asked demandingly as he covered his ears from the noise. "Did you sing one pop song too many?"

"He's just got too thin of a skin," Anja said silkily. "He can't take a joke."

"Maybe you just know how to push his buttons," Brodey commented, raising his eyebrows slightly and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Maybe," She said covertly, giving him a seductive smile. There was something in the way she was seated, with her feet propped up lazily on the caf table and her long hair pulled back into a reckless ponytail. Perhaps it was the wild spark of mischief in her eyes. Whatever it was, it simply drove him wild. "Care for some blue milk?"

He stared at the glass that she held out to him, slightly bewildered with her offer. It was the last thing he thought he'd hear her say at that moment, and yet. . . He realized suddenly that she could have said anything. It really didn't matter. All he could pick up was the communication she was sending without words.

"I'd love some," He replied, breathing out sharply as stared back at her. He clumsily made his way over to sit next to her on the couch, vaguely aware that she was causing a sort of hazy tunnel vision. Brodey took a small, hurried sip from the glass she offered him and then placed it back on the table before launching himself at her in a flurry of passion.

The skin on her neck felt warm and soft as he caressed it, pulling her lips up to meet his. He inhaled slowly, taking in the scent that was distinctly hers. Strands of her hair got in his way as their lips mingled and ardent fire coursed through his entire being. There was something about Anja Gallandro, something she did to him, that he could never explain. The only thing he knew for sure was that he liked it.

"Oh, isn't that sweet?" Kyp said from the doorway, his voice dripping with sarcasm. The mere sound of his voice instantly separated the young couple. "Which one of you two should I kill first?"

"Careful, Kyp," Brodey snapped back with a sneer. He, unlike Anja, was only slightly embarrassed but more than a little pissed off. "You might get a damaging reputation if you're always threatening to kill people."

"Smartass," Kyp muttered with an accentuated sigh. "So, what kind of punishment did Jaina give you this time?"

"A two day vacation," Brodey retorted.

"Really?" Kyp exclaimed, plainly shocked. "And that's punishment?"

"Wait until you hear the entire story," Brodey replied. "I got a message from an unknown source. Turns out that somebody's been following me around and keeping track of my every move."

"That's not good," Kyp groaned, flopping down onto the couch.

"It gets even better," Brodey said, moving his hands around frantically as he talked. "Part of the message was in my native language! You do realize what this means, right?"

"Hey, as a leader of your people I think it should be your job to tell them that moving in is out of the question," Kyp laughed. "We're already overcrowded as it is."

"Sith, Kyp! I'm serious here! I've got a jedi bounty hunter after me and he's probably planning some trap as we speak. Somehow Her Holiness managed to convince me to go meet this bounty hunter," Brodey hissed angrily.

"Why does she think we should go in the first place? It's not like we can gain anything from having you killed or taken from us by some bounty hunter," Kyp said with a scowl.

"Oh, I forgot the best part," Brodey laughed bitterly. "Apparently this unknown person has information that could lead to the end of the war."

Kyp made a coughing sound into his open hands that distinctly resembled the words "bantha dung." Brodey couldn't help but crack a smile, even in his foul mood.

"My sentiments exactly," Anja agreed. "Brodey, you've got to think about what's best for the team."

"I am, kind of," He replied with a shrug. "I'm torn between doing the best, safest thing for my own squadron and taking a risk that could be the best thing for the entire galaxy. It just doesn't make sense that somebody would contact me. Why not Master Skywalker? Why not Jaina's brother?"

"It's probably a trap," Kyp said with a nod of his head. "You all know how Jaina loves walking right into those."

"Yeah, it seems that way, doesn't it?" Anja laughed, jabbing Brodey playfully in the side. "And you're not that much better with that issue!"

Brodey returned the elbow to the side, biting back a smile. "It may very well be a trap, but we have orders. I suggest you two get packing."

"Wait, I'm coming along too?" Anja cried in astonishment.

"Of course you're coming!" Brodey insisted, grabbing hold of her shoulders. "I wouldn't want you to miss out on all the fun. Besides, I need you!"

"The mission is doomed," Kyp mumbled under his breath. Brodey responded to Kyp's comment with one of Corellia's more vulgar hand signals as he leaned in for another kiss.


	3. And They're Off!

"I do wish you'd reconsider," Jag said sternly as he placed his hands on his hips, trying to look imposing. He set his jaw, standing firm as Jaina glared up at him. For nearly half of a standard hour they'd argued over which ships they should take on their journey and an end to their squabble wasn't in sight.

"Jag, it's just not practical!" Jaina cried, waving her hands around in the air. "We shouldn't divide such a small group into separate ships! One ship is sufficient!"

"One ship is NOT sufficient," Jag insisted coldly. "It's too easy to pick us off with just one ship. At least if we have separate ships then we can cover each other's backs."

"If we travel in many small ships then we'll resemble a star fighter squadron. It'll draw attention and it'll get us killed, Jag!" Jaina growled, her eyes smoldering.

Jag opened his mouth to retort but ultimately thought against it. He considered that any contrary response to her statement would cause her to believe that he thought them to be invincible. It wasn't necessarily the best thing to say to a young woman who had just lost one brother and almost lost another. He didn't even believe it himself. He bit back his desire to be right in this circumstance and responded with a simple nod.

"You're right," He said simply, his frosty green eyes still staring holes into her. "We'll travel in one ship. The real question is about which one we should take."

"That's easy," Brodey called cheerfully from the other side of the hangar. The young man was dressed for travel in plain brown robes, not unlike the ones that Kyp often wore. He walked toward them briskly, shifting the nerf-hide satchel to a more comfortable position on his shoulder as he went. "We're taking mine, of course."

"All right, great," Jaina replied, her mood lightening. "I didn't want to speak for you when you weren't here. Speaking of here, where are Kyp and Anja?"

"Oh, they just got into another disagreement in the corridors. It ended with each one throwing the other one's bags against the wall. They'll be here once they pick everything up." Brodey explained with a small grin.

Almost on cue, the three heard a long string of cuss words echo down the hall. A few seconds later a very perturbed Anja stalked into the hangar. Kyp followed lazily behind, a huge grin spread across his face. Brodey was truly fascinated by the amount of pleasure Kyp seemed to get from annoying Anja. It was almost as if Brodey and Anja were opposing poles of two invisible magnets whereas Kyp and Anja were similar poles. One dyad attracted. The other forcefully repelled. 

"Stupid sithin' bastard, gonna kill, strangle with my own bare hands, kick the snot out of, stupid Kyp! ARRRRRRGH!!" Anja screamed. The young woman flailed about as if she was possessed and spoke in tongues before storming up the landing ramp onto Brodey's ship.

"Well, is everybody ready to get going?" Kyp asked, distinctly cheerful.

Jaina shook her head. "Jag and I haven't gotten to the pre-flight check yet. You two can get onboard and put down your bags. Relax for a bit, maybe."

"Will do," Kyp replied, glancing up at the ship with a fiendish smile.

"You know what, Kyp? One of these days Anja is going to beat you senseless," Brodey said with a sigh. "And I'm not going to do anything to stop her."

"Fine by me," Kyp laughed as he ascended the ramp.

"In fact, I'm rather going to enjoy it," Brodey responded as he followed doggedly at Kyp's heels. "I can't wait to see Anja give you the comeuppance that you deserve. It'll put a smile on my face."

Kyp smiled smugly back at his apprentice, sending the non-verbal message to Brodey that it would be a cold day on Tattooine before Anja got the best of him.

Brodey found Anja scowling in the back as she pretended to be engrossed with a holographic map of the galaxy. Her attempt at feigning calmness was quickly failing as Kyp looked in at her as well. Brodey couldn't tell what face the jedi master had on but it definitely wasn't a pleasant one. He had one chance before Anja blew up and remodeled the entire interior of the ship.

"Out! Now!" Brodey yelled firmly as she shut the door in Kyp's face. Through the door he could still hear his master snickering. He turned around as he sensed her growing calmer by the second, and he noted that she probably couldn't hear Kyp from all the way over there.

He sniffed in again as something in the air seemed to change. A quirky smile that puzzled him tugged on her lips as she rose to her feet. She tiptoed stealthily over until her body was pressed ever-so-slightly against his.

"You know, there is that business that we still need to take care of," She whispered as she traced the outline of his lips with her index finger.

"You think?" He asked slyly but was silenced by her shushing him. Her lips returned, along with the molten magma that ran through his veins whenever she was near. He was in a blissful state unlike any other, completely engrossed in the passion of their embrace. His fingers brushed against delicate skin, his tongue wrestled against the force of her tongue, and he ran a probe along the surface of her mind, trying to figure out the effects she had on him.

In his altered state of consciousness Brodey suddenly became aware of a new stimulus. He glanced down at her fingers as she worked deftly to undo the fasteners to his shirt. Once she had all of them completely undone her soft kisses traveled downward. Her lips grazed along the smooth contours of his chest and the lean muscles of his abdomen. It was around this time that he noticed a completely different stimulus.

Anja went from relaxed to rigid in a matter of seconds as she finally detected the gagging sounds coming from the other side of the door. She reached for the hydrospanner, kissed him quickly, and reached for the control panel to the door.

"We'll discuss this again sometime," She promised before rushing out the door and brandishing the weapon at a fleeing Kyp. The two ran down the ramp, almost knocking over Jag and Jaina as they entered.

"What, dare I ask, happened just now?" Jaina cried, her mouth hanging open as she viewed the argument and Brodey's unfastened shirt.

"You don't want to know," Brodey sighed, shaking his head. Kyp and Anja fighting was such a common thing that he felt he didn't need to explain it anymore to anyone.

"I was actually talking more about your shirt," She answered snidely. "What happened there?"

"With all due respect, you shouldn't have to ask that question, Commander," Brodey answered carefully.

"I figured as much. And DON'T call me Commander. It's Jaina on this mission, Brodey."

"I hear and obey," Brodey laughed as he gave her a cocky salute.

"Good, then you can go bring those two back on the ship so we can get going," Jaina ordered.

Brodey poked his head out of the ship's doorway and whistled loudly, straining to get their attention over the shouting. This time it happened to work as both of them looked back at him.

"We're leaving without you if you're not on this ship in ten seconds," He called. Kyp decided that he'd had his fun and jogged back over to the ship. Anja still seemed a bit peeved but followed reluctantly.

"Wow, what happened to you?" Kyp asked as he decided to take a break from picking on Anja so he could make fun of Jaina and her rumpled hair.

"Probably the same thing that happened to Brodey," Jag retorted calmly. "Got a problem with that, Durron?"

"No, absolutely not!" Kyp cried and then muttered under his breath, "Gods, I'm IN a holonovel."


	4. Childhood Trauma

Brodey cursed as his cup of caf splashed down the front of his clean shirt. His clothing seemed to be a magnet for stains lately, but that wasn't what concerned him. He struggled to manipulate the fingers of his artificial hand and found them to be malfunctioning. A sudden jerk of the tiny mechanics had caused the spill and he put his cup quickly down on a flat surface to avoid any more-expensive casualties of his quirky mechanical arm. 

He searched through a storage closet for his toolbox, glad that he still had one arm that was real while the other one continued vibrating erratically. He wondered smugly what the Yuuzhan Vong would think if they saw such an abomination. A darker side of him took great pleasure in defeating them with his mechanical arm. All mechanical things still needed their occasional tune-up, he reminded himself. 

The constant and coarse vibrations made his nerve endings cry out with the same type of agony that came with being tickled too much. That was one thing Brodey was quite familiar with since his older brother had been fond of that type of torture when Brodey was a little boy. It was a sadistic thing to do and Brodey had never done anything like that to his two younger siblings, but at least it made him cautious. 

He opened up the dermaplast-covered metal door so he could get at the wires and circuits inside. Somewhere, amongst all that technology, was his glitch, and he reached out with the force to see if he could pinpoint the problem. He zeroed in on a blown 20 ohm resistor, replacing it with a new one from his tool kit. 

He thought again about his older brother, the man that was seven years his senior. The man that he'd grown to loathe for the simple reason that Ch'aanlei always seemed to have his nose in Brodey's affairs. Now, as he was slowly making his way back from the dark side, he still harbored resentment toward his brother. He didn't know why, at least not entirely. Thinking of it made him want to chuck the entire toolbox across the room and scream out as loud as he possibly could. He wanted revenge, but for what? 

"Dare I enter for risk of being deep-fried?" Kyp laughed, walking slowly over to his apprentice as Brodey jerked to attention. "I sensed a lot of hostility coming from you." 

"It's just my stupid arm," Brodey said sharply. "It's acting up again." 

"That's too bad," Kyp said, a note of suspicion lining his voice. Brodey could tell that Kyp didn't buy his story one iota but to his surprise the older man didn't press. Kyp's respect for Brodey's privacy calmed him and he smiled at the realization that he was finally beginning to trust the jedi master. 

"You're only beginning to trust me now? After half a year of apprenticeship? Man, that's not too good," Kyp commented. 

"Durron!" Brodey began. 

"I know, stay out of your head," Kyp droned, rolling his eyes up into his head. 

Brodey nodded ominously but inside he felt like the occasional intrusion wasn't such a bad thing. It was right, what other people said about him. He did keep to himself and hold everything in, yet there was a difference between connecting with him and prying every little detail out of him. Kyp, so it seemed, was more of a master of subtlety than everybody thought. 

"So, are you and Anja giving each other any breathing room?" Brodey asked with a yawn. 

"No more than usual," Kyp chuckled. "She and I have a special relationship." 

"If by special you mean seriously warped then I'll agree with you," Brodey laughed mockingly. "At least she's always glad to see me when you're around." 

"Well, if I'm that talented at driving women to hate me and love their boyfriends then I should start a service once the war ends," Kyp joked. "What do you think?" 

"I'd say go for it," Brodey said, yawning again. 

"I think I will," Kyp answered, his eyes looking as if they were glancing toward a distant horizon. "For now I think I'll just stick to pestering people around here. It's my only defense against all the sickening cuteness." 

"Also a good plan," Brodey agreed with a grin. 

"You should get to bed, kid," Kyp said in his best father voice. "We've got a big day ahead and you definitely need sleep." 

Brodey quickly discovered that Kyp was right. He desperately needed sleep. He hadn't slept more than seven hours in the past two days and no amount of jedi meditation could make up for a good night's sleep.

As Kyp left and Brodey crawled onto his sleeping pallet he contemplated his chances of getting restful sleep tonight. That, like everything else in his life, was uncertain. His last thoughts before his third eyelid glazed over the surface of his eye and his other eyelids drifted shut were of his brother. Why did he hate his brother?

~*~*~

_"You almost ready?" Chaser asked his friend as Brodey strapped his vortex board to his ankle and finished zipping up his wetsuit. He didn't know what it was but something just didn't feel right. He didn't think he was ready and yet he was. Perhaps it was because of the dream he'd been having for the past few weeks. It seemed almost silly that he might miss a jump and injure himself. No, nothing bad was going to happen._

_Even so, Brodey couldn't ignore the gnawing headache that scorched his brain and pounded through his skull. He needed a fix and he needed one now. _

_Chaser smiled, recognizing the withdrawal symptoms that were visible even without the force. Brodey looked haggard, dazed, and his skin was more translucent than usual. Chaser quickly fished into his pack, hoping that he could find the right stuff so his friend wouldn't pass out right there on the dock._

_"This will get you ready," Chaser muttered as he secretly slipped an ice cold vial of a glowing gold substance into Brodey's palm. Brodey wasted no time, opening the vial with trembling hands and pouring its contents quickly down his parched throat._

_The effects were immediate but surprising. His senses became enhanced and everything around him was brighter or louder or smelled stronger than before. His pupils dilated and the debilitating headache went away. All at once he felt more powerful than he ever had before._

_"That's some good stuff!" Brodey gasped with wide eyes. "I feel great!"_

_"Best stuff I can get," Chaser answered proudly. "Pay me later for it. Get out there! I think they just called your number."_

_Brodey nodded. It wasn't every day that he made regionals for vortex skiing and boarding, and he'd really get embarrassed if he missed his call. His mind worked through his planned routine as he walked to the starting gate, board in hand. Nothing was going to mess this up for him. Nothing._

_"Brodey!" A harsh voice yelled from behind. Brodey turned slightly, rolling his eyes in frustration. Ch'aanlei just couldn't leave him alone. "Father said for you to skip this match. It's too dangerous."_

_"Well you can tell father to go shove it you-know-where, because I'm NOT missing this match, not for anybody!" Brodey snapped back, turning fully around to confront his older brother. He only managed to take a step in Ch'aanlei's direction before he was thrown hard against a tree._

_"Listen, you little druggie waster, and listen well," Ch'aanlei growled with fire in his eyes. "You do not speak that way about your father. He's bent himself over backwards trying to put up with you for the past year and he deserves some respect. I also won't put up with your constant sass. You, as the crown prince of this dynasty, are not going out on the course. I forbid you."_

_"Who died and made you chief of police?" Brodey lipped off back. "I'm going and there's nothing you can kriffing do to stop me!"_

_Brodey stalked quickly to the gate, brushing off Ch'aanlei's telekinetic attack as hatred filled his soul. They were already waiting for him to start. He didn't want to disappoint._

_The hovership started off, pulling him up onto the surface of the ocean. Brodey stood up quickly with professional grace and gave them the thumbs up to increase the speed. A quick rev of the engine doubled the ship's velocity and pulled him across open waters toward the obstacles. A million things were on his mind as the spice worked its magic and his thoughts were a jumble of anger toward his brother and duty for his team. Academy's honor depended on his run. He wouldn't disappoint._

_He landed the first ramp perfectly, performing an inverted twist flip and landing backwards. From this position he hit the smaller ramp and did a pike back flip to face forward again. The next two tricks were twin grinds on opposite sides of the ship's wake. He landed on top of the first rail edge and he could feel the scrape of the board as he slid along it. He jumped and turned a couple of times with expert accuracy and continued on along the rail. That's when pain exploded in his head, ripping through his brain like a lightsaber._

_Brodey faltered, falling off the railing prematurely. He raised his arm in the air to call off the run but his board caught the wake of the ship. Like another ramp, the wake sent him flying through the air, only this time he was too blinded from the pain to land it correctly. Brodey fell, head first, toward the sharp edge of the rail. The last thing he remembered was sticking his left arm up to protect his head. Everything else after that point was observed through a hazy inferno of pain. He vaguely recalled being trapped under water, unable to breathe, and surrounded by swirls of crimson. All he could think of was that he was about to die._

_~*~*~_

Brodey shot up straight on his sleeping pallet as beads of sweat ran down his face. He breathed heavily from the nightmare and he discovered he was both drenched in sweat and shivering involuntarily. The horrible headache was still there and rapidly growing worse. He tried to swallow but found there was nothing to swallow as his throat and mouth were completely dry.

"Oh stang, not this again!" Brodey groaned as a chill coursed through his overstressed muscles. His body seemed to confirm the obvious, that it was indeed 'this' once again, as his stomach lurched with nausea and the world began to spin around him.

Brodey vaulted off the bed and hurried into the fresher. There he vomited, until there was nothing left of the small breakfast he'd devoured an hour earlier. Then, to his discomfort, he continued to retch violently. In between retching and blacking out for short amounts of time he cursed silently at the drug that was causing such horrible withdrawal. These episodes were merely flashbacks. Just little reminders of how much of an idiot he'd been three years ago. He'd messed around with Ganliet spice and now he was paying the price for his stupidity.

"Oh Brodey," Anja called sweetly as she entered the compartment of the ship where Brodey had been sleeping. Her hands fumbled with the sash of the robe she was wearing. "I have a surprise for you!"

Her eyes widened in shock as she passed by the fresher and found him lying motionless on the floor.

"Oh gods," She whispered, running in to help him.

~*~*~

_"By the grace of El'aanus, did you see the spill he just took?" The medical attendant on the hovership shrieked. "Circle back around, now!"_

_The captain swung the ship around and headed for the spot next to the rail where Brodey had fallen in. Once the boat was close enough the medic jumped off the side of the ship with a life preserver, trying desperately to pull the young man out of the water before he bled to death. He knew just where to dive as he found the spot where the blood clouded the water. A meter below the surface he found him, bleeding profusely from a wound that had nearly severed his left arm just above the elbow. The crown prince's features were screwed up in agony and he feared that shock would set in long before he was able to pull the young man from the warm ocean waters._

_~*~*~_

"Brodey, can you hear me?" Kyp asked forcefully as he shook Brodey by the shoulders. The younger man's eyes opened slightly from the movement but all that was visible were the whites of his eyes. "Come on kid, come back to us!"

"What's wrong with him?" Jaina asked with a quaver in her voice.

"I'm not sure," Kyp answered truthfully. "It looks like some sort of sudden intestinal illness. I just don't think he gets sick that often, from what he told me."

"It does seem odd," Jaina agreed, snuggling up to Jag as looked down at her friend with a pitiful expression. "Do you think we should call off the mission?"

"No," A small voice answered weakly, and they all looked down at their fallen comrade. "Don't give up on the mission. I'm not that important."

"Oh, you're not that important, except that whoever we're meeting made a point of sending a message to you," Anja said coolly, narrowing her eyes at him. She already knew the reason for his illness. It was obvious. His skin was translucent, his eyes were widely dilated, and he had headaches and chills. All were common symptoms of spice withdrawal.

~*~*~

_"Get my pack! We need to get a pressure wrap on his arm, now!" The medic gasped as he hauled Brodey's limp body onto the ship. The captain froze, staring in horror at the youth's arm. "Don't just stand there! Move!"_

_As the captain ran to retrieve the life support kit that was onboard the medic performed an assessment of Brodey's condition. The young prince's rapid heart rate wasn't helping the blood loss and after a quick check he'd determined the cause. Spice. Now he just needed to find out which type he'd taken so he could administer the proper antidote._

_The hovership sped back toward shore at an illegal speed and all the medic could do was stop the bleeding and pray that he would make it._

_"Don't give up on me now, kid," He muttered to his patient._

_~*~*~_

"Please, just don't give up on me now," Kyp said softly as he wiped Brodey's forehead with a cool cloth. "Stay with me, kid!"

"Do you think we should try giving him some water?" Jag asked with a frown.

Kyp was about to answer when Anja interjected. "He wouldn't be able to keep any of it down."

"Why is that? How do you know?" Jaina questioned, still looking visibly shook up.

"Because I've seen this before," Anja said cryptically. "And so have you."

"You don't mean. . ." Jaina gasped in shock but then trailed off as if she feared the next words that would come out of her mouth.

"Spice withdrawal," Anja said in a grave tone.


	5. Ganliet

_"Are you sure?" Brodey's coach asked as he hovered over the young man's body._

_"Positive. Look at the symptoms. He probably fell because of a headache," The medic replied as he waved a couple more medical personnel over to where Brodey lay._

_"It just seems so sudden," The coach continued in disbelief. "I mean, don't withdrawal symptoms come on slowly?"_

_"With some types of spice they do, but the newer varieties are more unpredictable," The medic responded. "That's why we need to find out what he took."_

_"I just can't believe it," The coach said sadly, shaking his head._

_"Let me through! That's my brother injured in there!" Ch'aanlei yelled as he pressed through the crowd. "Gods, what happened to him? We need to get our father in here! He's a jedi healer! He can help him!"_

_"I assure you, son, your father is on the way," The medic told him, trying to reassure the frantic young man. "I just need to ask you a few questions about your brother."_

_"Fine, what do you need to know?" Ch'aanlei sniffed as he wiped a tear away from his eye with the sleeve of his robe._

_"He's showing signs of a spice addiction. Do you know what kind of spice he might be on?"_

_"No, I don't," Ch'aanlei said coldly, suddenly stiffening. "But I do know who does."_

_~*~*~_

"Brodey?" Anja asked clearly as she wrapped a blanket around his feverish form. "Can you tell me what kind of spice you took?"

Brodey blinked slowly as Anja's form began to take shape. He could sense her anger and disappointment bubbling over inside, unlike the others who were just afraid for him. A sudden thought dawned on him: What if Anja didn't know that this was withdrawal? What if she thought he was addicted to spice again?

He wanted to tell her that he wasn't doing spice and that this was just an aftershock from a much greater problem, but he couldn't form the words properly. The only thing he managed to croak out was a name.

"Ganliet," He whispered hoarsely as the blackness swallowed him once again.

~*~*~

_"Are you kriffing kidding me?" Ch'aanlei asked in outrage as he maintained his hold on the adolescent's shirt collar, pulling him up off the ground. "You must have a death wish! Giving Ganliet to my brother after all the media reports on the side effects might just be the last stupid thing you ever do."_

_"I'm sorry! I had no idea he'd react so violently!" Chaser squeaked in fear as Ch'aanlei's murderous gaze bore up at him._

_"You better be sorry! You've been corrupting my brother ever since you came into his life!" Ch'aanlei barked through gritted teeth. "You introduced him to spice. You keep on pulling him farther away from his family and closer to the dark side. I think I'd be doing everybody a favor if I just killed you now!"_

_"You wouldn't," Chaser challenged, knowing that he spoke the truth. "Your honor is too much at stake. You wouldn't throw it away on a scumbag like me. Besides, I'm not the one who's pulling him closer to the dark side."_

_"Oh yeah?" Ch'aanlei asked indignantly. "Then who is?"_

_"It's so obvious," Chaser said in a far away tone. "I'm surprised you're not smart enough to figure it out already."_

_"Kid, you've got a lot of guts to say something like that with my hands around your neck," Ch'aanlei growled, growing angrier. "Now answer me! Who's pulling him to the dark side?"_

_"All of you," Chaser whispered icily. _

_~*~*~_

"I've never heard of Ganliet spice!" Anja insisted angrily. "Maybe he's just delirious."

"I'm sure it's something that's not from this galaxy," Kyp muttered as he raked a hand through his hair. The group had managed to move Brodey back onto his bed and roll him over onto one side. Kyp found that his hair was amply soaked with sweat from the effort. 

"Oh great!" Anja said sarcastically. "We're really going to be able to find out about it now!"

"Heh," Kyp snorted, casting a sidelong glance. "I guess it would be wishful thinking, but maybe rich boy has a data library installed on the ship's computer."

"Hey, it's worth a shot," Jaina remarked, taking Jag by the arm and leading him over to the ship's comm.

"She sure has that boy on a leash," Anja laughed under her breath. "I'm jealous."

"Why? You want to have a whipped little bantha cub following you around all the time?" Kyp asked with a snide half-grin. "I don't think anybody could put a leash on Brodey."

Anja glared at him defiantly with her hands on her hips.

"No offense, of course!" Kyp said mockingly.

"Hey, I think we found what we were looking for," Jaina called from the adjacent compartment.

"Really?" Kyp exclaimed with relief.

~*~*~

_"Ganliet, in its purest form, is a potent stimulant and neurological toxin. It was originally discovered in mines below the village of Ganliet on Tsaorai. Many people have died since its introduction ten years ago on the streets of Freedom City. Death occurs both from the dose and from the withdrawal symptoms. Common causes of death during a high include aneurysm and heart attack while the most common cause of death during withdrawal is dehydration."_

_Ch'aanlei remembered the media broadcast well. It had been top news ever since Ganliet gained status as the new drug of choice for rich adolescents. He just never thought his brother would be so dumb to take it. It was painful to hear Chaser recount his story to the medical workers and police, to hear that his brother was so desperate that he took whatever Chaser handed him without asking what was in the vial._

_"Do you know what the dosage was?" The medic asked patiently._

_"One vial. Approximately a quarter of a millinic," Chaser answered cooperatively, pulling the vial out of his pack and showing it to the older man._

_"That much?" The medic exclaimed, raising both eyebrows. "It's amazing that he's still alive!"_

_"It wasn't pure Ganliet," Chaser confessed. "I mixed a few other things in there too."_

_"Merciful Gods! What did you try and do to this boy?" The medic asked in outrage._

_"Good question," Said a chillingly calm voice as the crowd hastily became silent. The swarm of people had parted and in the center of the opening in the crowd stood Noaa'lan Narundi. Heavily armed guards flanked him from every possible direction. Ch'aanlei wasn't sure if their purpose in this condition was to prevent assassination or to keep Noaa'lan from murdering Chaser. The king was displaying emotions that Ch'aanlei didn't think could come from his father. Noaa'lan still managed to hide them well from the public but he couldn't hide them from his son. Ch'aanlei could feel his father's fear and anger because he knew him better than the others. What he now felt rolling off his father chilled him to the core. "I'd love to hear the answer."_

_Chaser swallowed hard._

_~*~*~_

"So, does it describe the cure for withdrawal?" Anja asked impatiently.

"One second. . .yes, here it is," Jaina said, pointing at the screen. She read the line and her face quickly fell. "Looks like we need to give him an injection of this plant extract."

"Hah! I wonder if the mah'aala plant even exists in this galaxy!" Kyp laughed bitterly.

Anja moved closer to him, her eyes ablaze. "What alternative do we have, Kyp? Sit here and watch him die?"

"It says that as long as he doesn't die of dehydration then he'll live," Kyp challenged back, staring her down. "We should stop arguing and try and get water into him."

"Didn't you listen, Durron? He won't be able to keep it down! We'd need to do it intravenously, and I don't see any equipment like that lying around here, do you?" Anja sassed loudly.

"Well, then what do you propose we do, miss know-it-all?" Kyp snapped back, growing more than slightly annoyed at the woman.

"I don't know!" She yelled back, wringing her hair in frustration as her face turned redder. "I'm torn right now between wanting to help him and wanting to smack him so hard that his head falls off!"

Kyp just watched her silently as she seethed, not knowing anything to say to that. He sensed that Anja's trust in her boyfriend had been violated by Brodey's apparent lie of being clean and he didn't know what to tell her. That would be up to Brodey once, if he regained consciousness.

"Ahem!" Jag cleared his throat loudly and got the others' attention. "While you two were arguing I took the liberty to rifle through his personal effects. I found this."

~*~*~

_Noaa'lan Narundi's eyes flickered with curiosity as the medic administered a pressure syringe filled with a viscous blue liquid into his son's arm._

_"What did you just give him? What's wrong with him?" He asked, his voice shaking slightly as he knelt beside his injured son._

_"Your Highness," The medic faltered and bowed, dreading the news that he'd have to deliver to the king. "I. . .I just gave him a dose of mah'aala extract. He should revive shortly. His arm was nearly ripped off in a boarding accident."_

_Ch'aanlei observed the look of stunned disbelief on his father's face as the king finally realized what his son had been into. Noaa'lan stared blankly at the medic with his mouth wide open. From there his gaze slowly moved to meet the fearful eyes of Chaser. The young man cowered, trying to hide amongst the faces in the crowd from his imminent death. If Noaa'lan had been feeling any other emotion besides denial then he would have surely launched himself right at Chaser but his gaze moved on. It fell quickly on Ch'aanlei._

_ Noaa'lan's bright blue eyes looked pleadingly up at his eldest son, hoping that Ch'aanlei could tell him that the medic was wrong. Brodey didn't need mah'aala extract. Brodey wasn't addicted to spice. Ch'aanlei only wished that it wasn't so but he couldn't lie to his father. Even if he tried he knew Noaa'lan would see through it. He met Noaa'lan's stare with one of sorrowful confirmation. Noaa'lan pulled his gaze away quickly and closed his mouth. He was stoic for a brief instant as he looked back at Brodey lying there on the dock. Brodey, the drug user, the alcoholic, the one he had failed. The king brought a hand up to his face, hiding the tears that were forming and the quivering lower lip. Ch'aanlei looked on helplessly as his father's shoulders shook forcefully. There was nothing he could do to help him and he stared, along with the rest of the crowd of people, as his father hit rock bottom._


	6. The Big Crash

It was like somebody had reconnected his soul to the rest of his body, like fixing a break in a circuit in his mechanical arm, and that someone was slowly lowering him back in to the land of the living.

His eyes snapped open as if he was waking up from a bad dream. That was, after all, what he'd been experiencing. What he felt next made him question whether he'd walked from one nightmare into the next.

Anja sat on the edge of his bed, watching over him. He would have felt happy that she cared so much to stay by his side if not for the look in her eyes. They looked at him, two cold chips of volcanic rock, as she stared mercilessly.

"Hello love," He said quietly, testing the waters. It occurred to him that he'd never mentioned to her anything that alluded to his flashbacks. He just hoped that she wasn't upset because of that.

She was silent for a few seconds before her lips parted from their pressed-together position. "You lied to me," She said simply as the anger rose up and overtook her.

"What?" He asked in shock, trying his best to act surprised when he truly wasn't. "I never did anything of the sort!"

"You lied to me about being clean!" She exclaimed, her voice suddenly booming. "You're still on spice –" She paused, choking back a sob, "And you went around and did it behind my back thinking I'd never figure it out!"

"Anja, I'm telling you. I never lied to you. If you believe anything, believe me now when I tell you that I AM clean. That was just a flashback, one of the many side effects that I have to deal with because of my mistakes. I'm just sorry you had to witness it," Brodey said earnestly as he reached out to touch her hand. Anja quickly recoiled at his touch but continued to listen. "They were never able to cleanse me of the toxins. I crave Ganliet constantly. There's nothing I can do about that or the flashbacks. That's why I have the extract supply with me. I normally can prevent episodes like the one I had if I get it quickly enough."

"Why should I believe you?" She asked as tears clung to her eyelashes. "This isn't the first time you've kept information from me about yourself. I've told you all about myself but you just hide away inside like a little boy! I don't understand you, Brodey. Why do you have to be so secretive?"

"I don't know," He said gently. "But what I do know is that I love you and care about you deeply. I never meant to hurt you. I just wasn't thinking when I didn't tell you."

"Oh Brodey, I don't know if I can trust you anymore!" She sobbed with tears rolling down her face.

"Shhhh, don't say that," He whispered, sitting up to pull her into a tender hug. He kissed the top of her head, letting her tears trickle down his bare chest as he stroked her hair. "I promise I'll be more open with you. No more secrets."

"You promise?" Anja sniffed, her voice muffled as she spoke against his chest.

"Yes, sweetheart," He insisted softly, cupping her face in his hands and planting a kiss on her forehead. "I promise."

"Awwww, ain't that a disgustingly sweet moment?" Kyp taunted from the doorway.

"Durron, I'm going to kill you now," Anja hissed, moving to stand up and run after him.

Brodey pulled her closer, trying to keep her from leaving so quickly. "Kyp, can't we have a little alone time?"

With a brief cocky salute Kyp acknowledged Brodey's request. He vanished to go bother Jaina and Jag some more, leaving the two alone once again.

"So, if I recall correctly, you were saying something about a surprise you had for me before I passed out?" Brodey asked, raising one eyebrow at her suspiciously.

"Well, I'm not so sure you deserve it now, after lying to me," Anja said with a coy smile.

"Come on!" Brodey pleaded. "I'm really sorry about that. Really I am, but you're killing me here! I want to know what my surprise is."

"This," She said softly as she pressed against him and kissed him fervently.

~*~*~

"What do you want out of life?" Anja asked quietly, trailing her fingers along the lean muscles of his upper arm.

The two had been lying there, snuggling together under a thermal blanket, for what now seemed like hours.

"Wow, Miss Gallandro, what is this?" Brodey laughed as he pulled her closer, wrapping her in a warm embrace. "I cave once and you immediately start asking the difficult questions!"

"Just answer the question, secret boy!" She teased, smacking him playfully on the arm.

"Fine," He said with a smirk as he gazed up at the ceiling. "I guess I want what everybody wants. You know what I'm talking about. I want a place to call home, a loving family, and a purpose in life."

"Mmmm," Anja muttered dreamily as she kissed his shoulder. "Do you think you'll get all that?"

Brodey gave a small snort in response to her candid question. "Definitely not. There are days when I think I won't get any of it, but that's just the pessimist in me coming out."

"You know what I think?" She muttered as her kisses found their way up to his cheek.

"No, I don't. What does Anja Gallandro think about this issue?" Brodey teased, turning his head to kiss the tip of her nose.

"I think that if you really believe that you can achieve something, anything, then there's a much greater chance of it coming true," She said enthusiastically while motioning with her hands.

"Sounds good to me," He shrugged. "The problem is that my confidence is blown after the hand I've been dealt."

"Heh. Believe me, I'm with you there," Anja answered soberly. "Few people have had to go through what we have. Jaina Solo and her family are definitely included among those few. I think you just have to work through all that and keep the faith that at some point your bad luck will run out. Then things will be fine again."

Brodey nodded silently, contemplating her words, but gradually the corners of his mouth curled up into a smile. "I never knew you were one to have faith in anything besides the almighty credit. I'm surprised with you!"

"Narundi, I'm simply loaded with surprises. Just you wait and see!" She chuckled and brushed his shaggy bangs out of his eyes.

"I can hardly wait to see what the next one is!" He laughed back with a wink.

The ship suddenly bucked and shuddered, as if it was set to go off on some predetermined cue, right as the last word escaped Brodey's lips. It tossed them around so violently that they had to cling to the edge of the bed and each other to keep from falling hard onto the cold metal floor.

"Seriously, I had NOTHING to do with that one," Anja insisted as fear crept into her deep brown eyes.

The jostling had stopped already, giving them time to recover, but the lights were growing dimmer by the second. Brodey could only hope that it was just his mind playing tricks on him.

"I'm going to see what's going on with the power," He grumbled as he struggled into his pants. His clumsiness and the lack of light in the room contributed to a number of bruises. He cursed loudly as he hopped around with one leg in, banging into walls and other objects.

"Brodey," Kyp called from the cockpit. "We've got a situation here!"

"What is it?" Brodey asked anxiously as he entered the cockpit and crouched down in between the pilot and copilot seats. "What did you do to my ship?"

"Well, we're not quite sure yet," Jaina said uneasily and Brodey could sense she was only telling half of the truth. "What we do know is that we're losing power fast."

"What are you saying?" Brodey asked impatiently. "Is there a planet nearby?"

"Yes, but it's occupied," Jag said, his brow furrowing with worry.

"I don't care," Brodey snapped. "Better there than sitting out here, with no power or life support, just waiting to die or be picked up by the Vong."

"Kid, you're not thinking clearly," Kyp warned in a parental tone.

"Kyp, shut up," Brodey responded coolly. "I assure you that I haven't thought this clearly in years. Set a course for that planet. We're taking her in."

"You mean?" Jaina asked hesitantly.

"Yup," Brodey interrupted. "Crash landing time!"

"Don't you think we should think this over?" Jag protested uneasily, wringing his hands on the legs of his jumpsuit. "It seems like a rather rash decision to me."

"Fel, I like you," Brodey said mildly as he draped an arm over the shorter man's shoulders. "Please don't make me hurt you. It's my ship. Therefore, it's my call."

"You arrogant Son of a Hutt!" Jag hissed in outrage. "Jaina, you're not going to let him get away with that, are you? He's going to get us all killed!"

"Actually, I am going to let him get away with it," Jaina said in a soft but grave tone. "It's the best shot we've got."

Jag abruptly closed his mouth and turned back to his job as copilot but it didn't take a jedi to tell he was not pleased. The muscles of his jaw clenched as he set his teeth firmly together and glared down at the console. He felt betrayed, even though a tiny part of him knew that this was the best alternative, and he still couldn't believe that Jaina would let anyone trample all over her authority.

"Well kid, if we end up dead from this you can bet that I'll be chasing you with a vibroblade all over the afterlife," Kyp joked, trying to sound light-hearted but failing wretchedly. It came out sounding more like a nervous warning.

"You can go run all over your afterlife looking for me, but I won't be there," Brodey noted as he jabbed a finger into Kyp's chest. "I'm going to be down on that planet, decaying in that wreckage until there's nothing left of me."

"I thought you were religious," Kyp commented with great curiosity.

"Yup, but I got over it," Brodey replied bluntly, shrugging his shoulders.

"What about all that talk of gods that you worshipped?" Kyp asked, even more confused.

"Stang, Kyp! Haven't you ever heard of mythology?" Brodey asked edgily. "We're about to crash into an unknown planet and all you can think to talk about is my religious beliefs? Wake up and smell the caf!"

"All right, I'm sorry I asked," Kyp muttered with a roll of his eyes as he took his seat next to Brodey and tightened his crash webbing.

"So, did anybody say why we're running out of power?" Anja asked, popping up on Brodey's other side.

"Big boom on outside of ship," Kyp explained slowly, using a primitive form of sign language.

"Durron!" Anja bellowed in annoyance.

"Why did I sit in between you two?" Brodey asked as he threw up his hands in a gesture of hopelessness.

"Because you love us so very much!" Kyp cooed mockingly, pinching Brodey's cheek until the younger man smacked his hand away.

"Sticks, how's that landing going?" Brodey inquired, shifting his attention to more pleasant things.

"About as well as you can expect from a crash, Cat," She answered nervously. "We're entering the atmosphere. Hold on tight back there."

The small passenger cruiser shook from the turbulence of the planet's dense atmosphere. Holding on for dear life was the only option as the craft descended rapidly into the lush jungle canopy.

Anja grabbed Brodey's hand tightly and he gratefully returned the squeeze, bracing for the ship's imminent impact. The _Stingray_ scraped perilously against branches like the gnashing of teeth before the ship came to a bone-grinding and utterly silent stop.


	7. Familiar Territory

The creaking of the tree limbs outside the small vessel was what finally forced Brodey's eyes open. Before that point he had been perfectly content to drift in and out of consciousness, feeling strangely tired in spite of their recent ordeal. That exhaustion was replaced with disorientation as he couldn't distinguish the floor from the ceiling. After a moment of consideration he finally had it figured out: They were facing nose-down toward the planet and he was hanging limply from the restraints on his seat. It only appeared to be on the ceiling.

A stinging pain punished him each time he took in a breath but a quick scan of his ribs told him that none were fractured. He almost felt like laughing as he realized that he'd made it through with only a few bumps and bruises. Almost. Then he thought about the others.

Brodey craned his stiff neck to his left and relief washed over him as he saw Anja dangling from her restraints. She was still knocked unconscious but he could hear her breathing regularly. He reached out with the force to probe her vital signs and found that nothing was amiss. She too had evaded major injury.

"Kid, you're awake," A voice groaned weakly from two meters below. Brodey turned his head back to what was now the floor and focused his vision on the source of the sound. Kyp Durron was sprawled out on his back, his left arm twisted beneath him at an odd angle. His pain radiated back at Brodey through their force connection, making the younger man wince as he felt it like his own.

"What happened to you?" Brodey asked in a joking fashion, trying to lighten the mood and take Kyp's mind off the pain.

"I think I got the economy seat," Kyp quipped feebly.

"Let me find a way down from here so I can help you," Brodey muttered as he studied his restraints and calculated the least-painful way down. He released the fasteners, gripping on tight to straps on either side of his body so he could lower himself down at arm's length before dropping to the ground. The landing would have been perfect if not for Kyp's cry of agony as Brodey landed close enough to the jedi master to cause painful vibrations in the durasteel wall.

"Sorry about that," Brodey said with an apologetic grin. "Did you break your arm in the fall?"

"No, I'm just lying on my arm right now because I feel like it!" Kyp snapped sarcastically. "Of course I broke my arm! Now, are we just going to chat or are you going to get a bacta patch on me?"

"You know, I think I'm going to see how Jaina and Jag are doing," Brodey mumbled, ignoring Kyp's curses and crawling along the wall to the cockpit entrance.

He found them still seated but awake and checking each other over for injuries. Jaina dabbed at an oozing laceration on her forehead with the sleeve of her jumpsuit as Jag flexed his right hand to make sure it still worked properly.

"How did you two fare?" He asked, using the grooves in cockpit's floor to support his weight as he lowered himself down to their level.

"We'll live," Jaina said frankly. "I'm not so sure we can say the same about your ship."

"Yeah, about the ship," Brodey began hotly. "Why in all hells did the power suddenly go? Don't tell me you don't know, because I know better!"

"Hey, nerf-breath! I'm still in need of assistance, you lousy turncoat!" Kyp yelled furiously. "So get your sorry-excuse-for-an-apprentice behind in here and help me!"

"We'll finish this discussion later, once we find a way out of this wreck," Brodey promised, pointing a finger in her face. He then set off up the rungs of the grating that made up the floor, leaving the other two in edgy silence.

"Don't you think we should go and help them?" Jag suggested, finally breaking the awkward moment.

"Let's," She replied.

"Narundi, when this arm heals I'm going to hurt you," Kyp snarled as his apprentice clumsily moved him, freeing his trapped arm.

"You tried that a few times before, remember?" Brodey pointed out. "You lost."

"Mark my words, you worthless brat, you're going to get the beating of a lifetime!" Kyp spat back as beads of sweat trickled down his bright red face.

"Jaina, can you find my pack anywhere in this room?" Brodey asked, trying his best to resist the urge to punch Kyp in the face. "I need something from it."

"Is it sort of brownish?" She asked. "Because I think I saw a khaki bag somewhere in the cockpit."

"That would be the one," Brodey sighed as Kyp tossed more insults in his direction. "Can you get it for me?"

"That depends," She answered wryly. "Is there a roll of channel tape in there that we can use to shut him up?"

"You want a piece of this too, Solo? I'd be happy to oblige!" Kyp growled. He strained hard against Jag's weight as the younger man held him down to keep him from hurting himself or anyone else.

"No, but there's something important in there that I need, RIGHT NOW," Brodey said with a wink.

"What's the matter, druggie? Need more of that extract?" Kyp taunted angrily as he managed to sneak a quick punch to Brodey's midsection before his apprentice sensed what was coming. What seemed like a glancing blow resulted in a greater stab of pain than Brodey had expected. He made a mental note to check over his ribs again when he had the time.

"Here you go," Jaina said, tossing the pack up through the cockpit opening into Brodey's waiting hands.

"Thanks Jaina," He grunted, searching quickly through the contents of his bag before Kyp could take another shot at him. 

"Ah ha, thought so," Kyp snorted as Brodey removed a vial of extract and another pressure syringe.

"Contrary to what you might think, Kyp," Brodey muttered as he drew a dose from the vial and tapped the syringe in preparation. "This isn't for me."

Brodey quickly placed the syringe against the wounded jedi master's neck and expelled the dose before Kyp could say another word in protest. The serum had an almost immediate effect, rendering the older man wide-eyed and semi-comatose.

"Wow," Jag commented. "How did you know it would have a calming effect on him?"

"I took a wild guess," Brodey grinned roguishly. "It relieves pain in members of my species. I figured it would have a stronger effect on yours."

"You figured?" Jaina asked crossly. "How did you know it wouldn't kill him?"

"I didn't," Brodey shrugged nonchalantly. "But look at him. He's fine, just drooling like a baby."

"Gross!" Jaina exclaimed, pulling a face in disgust. "He looks like he's had one Lomin Ale too many!"

Kyp's mouth contorted in a goofy and placid smile at her remark. "I love you too, Jaina!" He yelled rather obnoxiously.

"What are you guys doing on the wall?" Asked a feeble voice from above.

"Glad you decided to join us again," Brodey laughed as he gazed up at the young woman who hung precariously from her seat.

"Hey Anja!" Kyp slurred happily, and Jag had to hold his left arm down to keep him from waving with it and damaging it further. "I love you too!"

"What did you do to Durron?" She asked skeptically.

"We sedated him a bit," Brodey admitted with a sheepish grin.

"No, YOU sedated him," Jaina said defiantly, crossing her arms. "We had no idea what you were going to do."

"Hey, come on," Brodey pleaded. "You have to admit that it's an improvement!"

"I'll agree to that," Anja drawled.

"Yeah, me too," Jag added.

"Arrrgh, you people just don't think!" Jaina yelled in frustration. "We're trying to avoid getting captured and killed and you sedate one of our men to the point where he's useless beyond the occasional drunk talk! Where's the logic in that?"

"Think of it this way, Jaina," Brodey explained. "Kyp without the sedative would have been in a lot of pain, made a lot of noise, and given us lots of trouble. At least he's not in pain anymore."

"Yes, space-dust-for-brains, but he lacks motor control right now," Jaina scolded, poking at one of Kyp's legs as it shook with an involuntary spasm.

"So we leave him behind," Brodey suggested. "It's not like he would have been that much help to us while he was still healing."

"True," Jaina conceded agitatedly.

"Look at all the happy dancing ewoks!" Kyp cried with starry eyes and then he began to sing along. "Yub yub, eecha yub yub!"

"I'm never going to let you live this one down," Jag chuckled with the broadest smile Brodey had ever seen from the older man. "I should slip Wes Janson some of that stuff in his drink the next time I see him, just to watch him freak out!"

Everyone, even Jaina, had a good laugh at the idea of Wes running away from a horde of imaginary ewoks.

"Ahhh! They're becoming violent!" Kyp shrieked in terror as he threw his arms around a bewildered Jag. "Hold me, I'm scared!"

"Watch that arm!" Brodey ordered as he placed a hand on Kyp's forehead and administered a calming influence. "Kyp, I need you to breathe slowly. I need you to calm down and close your eyes. There are no ewoks in here. It's all in your mind. Concentrate for a second on clearing your head."

Kyp gave a shuddering breath and complied, the muscles of his body slowly relaxing along with his breathing. Brodey heaved a sigh of relief as he felt Kyp go into a healing trance.

"Now, where's that med kit?" Brodey asked as he scanned the room with his eyes.

"Right there, above Kyp's head," Jag replied, pointing at a small metal box.

"Good," Brodey answered. "Get me out a few bacta patches. He's going to need more than just a few with that kind of break."

"Hello! I'm still hanging from the ceiling here!" Anja complained. "Any time you can help me down, I'd appreciate it!"

Brodey stood up, extending his arms confidently up to her. "Just drop down from there. I'll catch you."

"All right," She said with warning in her voice. "You better not drop me."

She yelped in fear as she fell, worried that he wouldn't catch her in time, but Brodey used the force to levitate her and slowly lower her to the ground.

"There," He grinned. "Nothing to be worried about."

"Whatever. Let's just get the bacta patch on ewok boy so we can get out of here," She muttered. "It's starting to give me the creeps."

"She's got a point, Narundi," Jaina said cheerfully even though Brodey knew she was far from it. "Patch him up so we can go survey the damage."

"Women!" Brodey moaned with a roll of his eyes.

"I'm serious, Brodey! You're already in a heap of trouble for drugging Durron! That doesn't exactly put you in my good graces," Jaina warned.

"So court-marshal me when we get back," He said tersely. "Right now all I care about is surviving this big mess, _as should you_."

"And you'd have a greater chance of surviving if you obeyed orders for once in your life!" She snapped irritably. "Every time I turn around you're doing whatever you want to do! Forget about what the Commander thinks. She doesn't know anything, right?"

Brodey stared emotionlessly down at Kyp's arm as he placed the last bacta patch on it and wrapped it with a sterile dressing. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."

"Why not? Are you afraid that I speak the truth?" Jaina challenged.

"What you just said to me, that's a whole load of bantha poodoo, and you know it!" Brodey barked in indignation.

"So now I'm not even right when it comes to you being wrong," Jaina acknowledged in an icy tone. "Explain to me again why I don't transfer you to a different squadron?"

"Because I'm the best pilot you got, and you know it," Brodey proclaimed.

"Heh, nothing like a huge ego to tide you over when we're all in mortal danger," Jaina commented sarcastically.

"It's one of the best ways to survive mortal danger, from what I hear," Jag offered calmly.

"Quiet, you!" She ordered with a smirk, feigning a punch at him. Jag didn't flinch.

"Listen, I want to survive this just as much as you all do," Anja began, "So can we stop arguing about stupid stuff like the chain of command and work on surviving?"

"What do you know, Narundi. Another woman with a good point," Jag said slyly.

"Gods, Fel, you're awful wordy today. Are you sure you don't want to try some of this extract? It'll clear that right up!" Brodey drawled, pointing to his pack with a devious grin.

"Thank you, but I'll pass," Jag muttered as the façade of seriousness was erected once more.

"You sure?" Brodey asked, waving the vial in front of the stern man's face. "Okay then. Let's grab our packs and move."

"What about Kyp?" Anja questioned, biting her lower lip in thought.

Her inquiry was answered as Kyp's prostrated form levitated off the floor. "I got it," Brodey promised them as the emergency door flew open and he floated Kyp through the opening.

"I should have known never to ask that kind of question of a jedi," Anja snickered as she followed the others on their way out the door.

The group climbed down to the soggy ground through stalks of dense foliage. Insects swarmed instinctively around their faces and other areas of uncovered skin. They seemed to take a special liking to Brodey, who spent half his effort swatting them away.

"Why won't these things leave me alone?" He cried impatiently, itching at the red bumps that were beginning to rise on the surface of his skin.

"Perhaps they find you tasty," Jag proposed with a shrug.

"Maybe it's because you ate half a nerf yesterday," Jaina growled as she dealt with her own swarm. "I've heard that blood-sucking creatures prefer prey with a high protein concentration in their blood."

"Good to know," Brodey laughed half-heartedly. "You're still not going to convince me to eat more foliage."

"I wasn't trying," Jaina insisted. "Wow, the damage doesn't look too bad from here."

"Yeah," Brodey said as he examined his ship from all angles. "It looks like we just have to find a new power converter."

"That should be really easy in the middle of a jungle," Anja snorted. "Why did the power go off in the first place?"

"Yeah, Jaina. I'd really love to have that answer right now," Brodey asserted, turning back to face in her direction.

"I don't know why it failed," She said softly. "Jag checked it over before we left Eclipse. It should have been fine."

"Wait, I was supposed to check it over?" Jag asked in shock. "I thought you took care of it. . .oh stang!"

"And what were you two doing that distracted you so from a simple pre-flight check?" Brodey asked suggestively, still swatting fiercely at the mass of freeloading insects.

"Well, um," Jaina began as color rose to her face.

"I see," Brodey muttered somberly, looking unblinkingly at the couple.

"Ewoks," Kyp whispered sleepily, drawing the attention of the group. Anja's head popped back up from next to his ear and she quickly discarded the mischievous grin she'd been wearing.

"Anja, please don't," Brodey groaned wearily.

"What?" She asked innocently as the grin returned.

"Can't you leave him alone for just one second?" Brodey asked, raising his voice to her.

"So what if I like to pick on him? What's the big deal?" Anja protested as she pulled her thick hair back and fastened it with a leather strap.

Brodey approached her with calculated grace until his nose was an inch away from her face. He faced her with his jaw taut and his fists clenched. "He's my jedi master, one of the few people that gave a womprat's ass about me when nobody else in the galaxy seemed to care, and you have the nerve to ask what the big deal is?" He fumed, breathing out rapidly like an angry reek.

"Awwww, I didn't know you felt that way," Kyp cooed in a muffled voice. Brodey sighed in relief as he realized that the drugs were wearing off. Now, instead of knocking his master completely out, they could have their desired effect on Kyp. He would feel hardly any pain for more than a day, which would give him plenty of time to heal himself. It was important for Kyp to have that time, and Brodey's mind churned with a way to keep him safe and hidden.

"Is that what I think it is?" Jaina asked enthusiastically as she bounced up and down, using Jag's shoulders to push herself up so she could get a better view.

"All I see is trees," Jag admitted as he gave her a look indicating that he thought she was insane.

"You have to look up higher. Jump with me!" She ordered, giggling slightly. "See it now?"

"Are you referring to that brown mass sitting high up in the tree?" Brodey questioned, squinting in the direction she was pointing. "It looks like a piranha beetle nest."

"It's an ewok!" Kyp exclaimed with a voice full of awe, although he couldn't see more than a few branches above him from his reclined position.

"No, it's not an ewok, it's a nest of piranha beetles!" Jaina cheered, still jumping up and down. "And we're not on Endor, we're on Yavin 4!"

"And that makes everything much easier," Anja pointed out. "There's bound to be some old power converters somewhere on this moon, but only if we can find our way back to civilization."

"Lucky for you, I know the way!" Jaina said eagerly as she paced around with pure excitement. "Tenel Ka and I used to go for long runs through the jungle. I'm pretty sure I know almost all of the paths."

"I remember some of them too, from my short stay," Anja added with a slight blush.

"Actually, I was thinking that you should probably stay here," Brodey suggested hesitantly, not sure how she would take his idea.

"Why? What for?" She cried in shock, stomping her foot down into the squishy ground.

"Well, you'll be safer here and we need somebody to stay and take care of Kyp," He muttered, cringing as he said the words. He knew now that she wouldn't take it well and he prepared for the explosion.

"No. There is NO WAY that I'm staying here, with that disgusting, pig-headed, poor excuse for a human being! Forget about it!" Anja screamed, flailing about wildly.

Kyp, who was quietly observing, stuck his lower lip out and whimpered at her insults. "Why don't you love me anymore, Anja?" He whined sadly, extending his arms out to her like he wanted a hug.

Brodey chuckled at his master's delirious display of affection and at Anja's blatant refusal of his suggestion. "I don't understand why you're turning down such an easy job, Anja. Just look at him! He's totally subdued. He'll probably sleep for the entire time you're watching over him. And if he gives you any grief then just give him another dose of the stuff. It's simple, really."

"Fine!" She snapped furiously and darted back up the ladder into the ship. "You owe me, Narundi!"

"I'll be sure to pay you back, ten fold," He called back up at her as he reached into his pack. "You might want to have a couple of these, just in case."

Anja poked her head out of the door just long enough to reach out and catch the vial and syringe that Brodey threw at her. After that she simply vanished back inside without another word or a goodbye.

"Don't worry about her," Jaina said softly, placing a hand of reassurance on Brodey's shoulder. "She sometimes gets this way."

Brodey shrugged, "I know. I'm not worried. Not in the least."

"Good," Jaina grunted as she hefted her pack onto her shoulder. "Drop Mr. Ewok up there with her so we can get going. The sun's going to set in a few hours and we need to make good distance before we camp for the night." 

  
"Anja," Brodey yelled up into the ship as he lifted Kyp through the hatch. "We got a present for you!" The only answer he got back from her was a smattering of curses. 

  
'You're welcome,' He thought dryly.


	8. Cheating

Jaina led the way through the thick underbrush, relying on the force to pinpoint the location of the trail that would take them back to what was formerly the Great Temple and Jedi Academy. Brodey recalled seeing holos of the academy when he was back on Eclipse. It was a truly magnificent structure, but he knew from the shaping of Coruscant that it no longer took the same form as it once had. If it still stood at all. They'd already encountered wildlife that seemed foreign, proving that the shaping of Yavin 4 was in progress, if not complete. 

  
"See anything, oh Great One?" He asked apprehensively during the third hour of their journey. Something told him that Jaina's search for a familiar trail was not unlike searching for a ship in an asteroid belt. 

  
"Of course I see something!" Jaina insisted stubbornly. 'A whole lot of creepy plants,' She thought uneasily as she cut through another one with her lightsaber. The vine let out a blood-curdling scream as a thick, clear sap dripped from where Jaina had severed it in two. 

  
"I don't think we're getting anywhere," Jag sighed as he mopped his brow with his sleeve. "We've been walking around for hours and still no trail!" 

  
"Both of you mortals shut up now!" Jaina commanded harshly. "I know what I'm doing." 

  
"Mutiny now?" Brodey asked, giving Jag an elbow in the ribs. 

  
The older man gave him a glance of suspicion, looking almost stung that Brodey would suggest something of that nature. Brodey could see the fierce loyalty blazing in Jag's eyes, the kind that only came through a deep love and admiration. He decided to drop the idea of revolt, mainly because he figured that he'd get his nose broken again by one of the two. 

  
"Do you have any better ideas, Your Highness?" Jaina asked snottily, turning back around and sticking her violet blade at his chest. 

  
"Oh, I've got your great idea, right here!" Brodey snapped boldly as he stuck his hand out, showing her his favorite vulgar gesture. 

  
"Brodey, that's enough!" Jaina boomed in frustration. "If you're not going to be helpful then you can just find your way back to the ship by yourself." 

  
"Goddess, don't tell me you'd leave me out here to die," Brodey answered back loudly in a tone that was almost whining. 

  
Jaina smirked evilly, telling him that she was indeed considering it. "I have great faith in your ability to survive." 

  
"Consider the alternative," Jag said softly, staring up at him with eyes that looked dark-rimmed and haunted in the fading dusk light. "You could be here with us, and put up with a little stupidity, or you could be back at the ship with Anja and Kyp, and put up with a whole lot of screaming." 

  
"Fel, I think there's enough screaming going on right here, don't you?" Brodey responded obstinately. "I'd be a lot happier in that situation. I'd drug Kyp up so he didn't remember anything and Anja and I could have a nice evening alone. However, I'm here with the two of you, getting eaten alive in a stinking jungle, just so we can survive! So step off, because the sun is going down and we need shelter, a fire, and some food!" 

  
He didn't wait to see the shocked expression on Jag's face from his outburst. Right then he didn't want to see much of anybody, except for the one man that might bring an end to the constant fighting and sneaking around that came with the war. It looked very probable that they'd never make it to the rendezvous. They'd never meet up with the shady man who might or might not be able to help them. Such issues seemed moot next to the dilemma they currently faced. Survival was first on the agenda. 

  
Jaina shrugged as Jag looked to her for some support. "He's got a point," She muttered, watching the back of Brodey's sweat-soaked jumpsuit as he pushed his way through more brush, toward the setting sun.

~*~*~

Anja sat lazily on a mattress she'd placed on the wall of the ship and read from her datapad. Even the newest holonovel couldn't take her mind off her intense anger. She hated Kyp for being so much of a jerk that Brodey had to drug him and make her stay here to take care of him. She hated Brodey for trusting Jagged Fel at his side more than he trusted her.

'God forbid that Jaina and her lover boy should ever be separated for one instant of the day!' She thought furiously as her arm wanted desperately to chuck the datapad across the room.

Her wrath deepened as she thought about the previous night. She thought that things were finally improving between them, that they'd opened the flood gates of communication in their relationship. She'd opened herself up to him completely and she thought she had no regrets about that. Now, with nothing but the buzz of piranha beetles in the dark background of the night to keep her company, regrets began to surface like bubbles in a stream.

The one good thing about the situation was the absence of Kyp Durron. The jedi master had been asleep in a back compartment of the ship for the past three hours. The lack of his annoying presence was certainly a stroke of luck.

She buried herself deep into her reading, hoping to ignore the dismal reality around her. The story was a particularly morbid romantic tragedy that she'd downloaded from the computer on Brodey's ship before the power failure. She had just reached the part where the young couple, cousins by blood, was torn apart by relatives in the middle of consummating their love. She found that she couldn't put it down, even though Brodey informed her that the book was nothing but downhill from the start. He'd explained to her that it was a classic in his culture, and all secondary school students were forced to read it.

'What kind of culture elevates such a horribly depressing book to the level of classic?' She thought wryly, pleased that she'd found another thing to hold against Brodey.

Anja read on as the family of the star-crossed lovers executed them in a ghastly and ritualistic fashion. The story, while gripping, left her with a disgusted feeling inside. She couldn't think of any point to it, besides the obvious one that told you it was a bad idea to marry your cousin.

A slight change in the surface of the mattress alerted her to changes in the external world and startled her to the point where she almost went airborne. She nervously looked up, expecting a Vong warrior or something equally as bad. It was worse than she'd expected. To her right, sitting cross-legged, was Kyp. He said nothing, only staring at something interesting about his boots.

"Kyp," She said softly, almost feeling concern for him. "Did the injection wear off?"

"I'm going to take that little twerp and disembowel him," Kyp said seriously as he nodded his head languidly.

"I'll take that as a yes," Anja answered as she turned back to her novel.

"Where does he get the idea that he can drug me?" Kyp cried in outrage, slamming his fist down onto the soft mattress. "I did a lot of bad things in my life, but I never took drugs to 'mellow out'."

"You didn't willingly take it," Anja muttered as she read through the story's epilogue.

"No Sith, I didn't! He thought he was making things better for me by knocking me out. All I remember is a tribe of overzealous ewoks attacking me! It was a nightmare!" Kyp exclaimed, resting his head against his knees.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Anja mumbled, although she secretly savored his torture.

"Why are you here instead of out exploring the jungle with your idiot of a boyfriend?" Kyp asked candidly. "I'm surprised he'd leave you behind after last night! I couldn't get a moment's rest with your antics!"

Anja's temper rose at his accusations but she resisted the urge to punch him out. She told herself that he'd been through just as much as she had, if not more. Even though she hated every ounce of his being she decided to let that comment pass. "Brodey felt that Jag was a better man to have along on the trip. He stuck me here, with you."

"Maybe he just didn't want to be distracted from his duty," Kyp hinted wryly.

"Durron, I've got a vial of extract sitting over there that has your name on it!" She threatened piercingly. "Now, if you're going to stay alert and ewok-free then shut your pie hole and sit down!"

"Yes Ma'am!" Kyp laughed, falling silent.

"I don't know what it is," Anja said, staring blankly as if deep in thought. "I just feel like everything changed for us. We just opened things up and now he's pushing me away again."

"Maybe he feels pressured," Kyp advised, drawing her attention. "It takes a lot of effort for him to open up to anybody. He still hasn't completely opened up to me."

"So, what do you think I should do?" Anja asked sulkily. "I don't know if I can be in a long term relationship with a guy who keeps secrets from me! I need a guy who's open and wants me around him. He shouldn't be afraid to show me affection or worship me like a queen!"

Kyp struggled to remain straight-faced through her description but he couldn't restrain his smirk. "That's certainly a tall order!" He chuckled softly. "I think you should just give him some space and some time. He'll grow out of the shell he's currently in. Just wait and see."

"That's all fine and good, and if I was Brodey's age then I might go for it," She said tensely. "But, in case you didn't notice, I'm pushing thirty here! What I want is a marriage and a family."

"Thirty?" Kyp mocked. "I never would have thought. You look so young for your age."

"I'm not thirty yet, gungan-brain!" She snapped deprecatingly. "I'm only twenty eight."

"You make thirty sound like it's such a curse," Kyp drawled slyly, his olive eyes twinkling. "I also think that trying to hurry up and get married so you can start a family is a mistake. Our life spans are getting larger every year."

"Not counting those who die in this infernal war," Anja interjected.

"Well, of course not counting that," Kyp nodded, continuing on with his speech. "I just think you have plenty of time. Besides, who would want to bring a child into the galaxy during a period of such unrest?"

"Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker certainly didn't have any reservations about that," She pointed out. "And their son was doing well, the last time I saw him."

"I'm sure they both had tons of reservations," He insisted. "There's no such thing as the perfect time to start a family, but people do it anyway. They either have one by accident or because they want one more than they want that brand new passenger ship."

"A brand new passenger ship?" Anja snorted cynically. "That sounds like a bad analogy to me. I wouldn't want to be around the people who value fancy possessions more than having children."

"Some people don't want children," Kyp explained. "You might substitute a particularly fun one night stand for the ship. Some people like their freedom."

"Are you one of those people, Durron?" Anja teased, poking him in the ribs. "Do you value a good-looking club girl over having any intimate relationships or a family life?"

"That's an awfully personal question, Anja," He commented, looking at her with his head slightly tilted.

"Have you even asked yourself? Do you know the answer?" She asked doggedly.

His eyes bore intensely into hers for a brief moment and he drew his lips into a taut, straight line. "I don't have any answers yet."

"I didn't think so," She replied.

"Why does it matter so much to you?" He challenged tensely, leaning toward her. 

  
"I'm not sure," She shrugged idlely. "I guess I'm just curious. I don't really understand your motives half the time and I sometimes wish I did." 

  
"I didn't know you cared," He snorted as he looked to the side for a split second, grinning. "Most people that can't stand me just fabricate motives for me." 

  
"What do you mean, fabricate?" Anja asked, smiling broadly as her interest grew. 

  
"Well, imagine that you hated my guts," Kyp began. 

  
"Not that hard to imagine," Anja interjected with a giggle. 

  
"Believe me, the feeling is mutual," Kyp muttered with a dark stare. "Anyways, you hate my guts. You couldn't care less about what happened to me. Would it be convenient to just believe everything that people tell you about me that supports your claim that I'm a jerk?" 

  
"I suppose it would," Anja commented hesitantly, unsure of where this conversation was headed. "But you are a jerk." 

  
"I suppose I am, sometimes," He agreed. 

  
"All the time," She added mischievously. 

  
"You're free to believe what you want about me," Kyp stated, ignoring her remark. 

  
"I'm still curious about what motivates you," Anja chortled. "You didn't tell me anything except that I was wrong for thinking you're a jerk who doesn't care about anybody else besides himself." 

  
"Well, I guess that's a start," He laughed. "You have to begin somewhere. Let's see. What motivates me more than anything? Probably the concept of freedom. Freedom from the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. Freedom from a nearly constant loathing of myself and the things I've done. Freedom in a sense that there might one day be some way for me to repay my debt to the galaxy." 

  
"Interesting," Anja whispered, somewhat skeptically. 

  
"I know it seems like wishful thinking," He added sheepishly, his face full of regret. "But it still motivates me nonetheless." 

  
"I never would have thought you were such a deep person," She chuckled, trying to lighten the mood of the discussion. 

  
"That's because you, like almost everybody else, didn't give much consideration to the destroyer of Carida," He said with a slight grin. 

  
"It's not like you're Mr. Open with everybody," She snapped defensively, pointing a finger straight at his face. "You're almost as bad as that apprentice of yours!" 

  
"Almost," Kyp nodded in agreement. "Except that I'm talking to you right now about personal matters that I don't normally discuss." 

  
"Why not?" Anja questioned. 

  
"Because they're uncomfortable," He said sharply, his eyes filling with what looked like pain before he averted his gaze. 

  
"And you think they're going to get any better if you keep them hidden away inside?" Anja asked harshly. "Or do they serve to motivate you too?" 

  
"I. . ." He stammered, his voice suddenly sounding like it was about to crack. "I just don't like to talk about them," He finished meekly, still not looking her in the eyes. 

  
"You don't like to or you can't?" She asked in a barely audible voice. 

  
"You try murdering billions of people and then tell me if you think you're entitled to live, let alone worry about whether or not you'll ever settle down and start a family," He hissed as his vision became blurred with hot tears forming in the corners of his eyes. 

  
Anja wanted to respond, wanted to scold him for wallowing in self pity, but found that she was too taken aback by the situation. Never, not in a million years, would she expect to see cold and heartless Kyp Durron, slayer of worlds, on the verge of tears. Something deep within the recesses of her being was moved by his abrupt display of emotion. Perhaps it was her maternal instincts coming to life but she was overcome with an inexplicable urge to reach out and comfort the man she had vowed to loathe until the end of time. She reached out to him, pulling him into a comforting embrace, and was rewarded with a hug so tight that she feared it might squeeze the life out of her. 

  
She glanced up, observing the expression on Kyp's face as he continued to cling to her for dear life. His eyes were shut tightly, only allowing a single tear to travel along his dark eyelashes and fall down his cheek. He seemed so vulnerable and frightened, not at all like the monster Anja envisioned in her head to represent him. It was then, in his most human moment, that Anja felt all of her past prejudices fall away. In their wake was a simple yet strong gravitation toward him. She didn't even think, for she didn't see a reason for thought. She just allowed the pull of gravity to guide her head, her lips up to meet his own.

~*~*~

"That is the single, most disgusting thing I've ever seen!"

Brodey looked up from his food, a sinew hanging from the corner of his bloody mouth. "What?" He asked innocently. "So I like my food a little rare. So what?"

"That's not rare," Jaina groaned, looking like she was seconds away from getting sick. "It's practically still squealing!"

"Maybe you should stop kidding yourself and appreciate me for the predator that I am," Brodey said happily as he licked the bone and his fingers clean.

"He did hunt and kill tonight's dinner," Jag pointed out as he turned the spit over the blazing fire. "With his bare hands."

"I know, and it's grossing me out!" She cried, almost sounding panicky.

"You would have done the same thing yourself, except that the meat would be burnt from the lightsaber," Brodey clarified, picking off another piece of near raw animal flesh from the spit. "This way tastes much better."

"Of course it does, for you!" Jaina snapped. "You didn't even cook yours!"

"Can you stop picking on me because of what I eat?" Brodey asked in indignation. "I'm not so juvenile that I make a big deal out of the sn'aala food you like to eat!"

"Sn'aala?" Jaina inquired. "Is that another obscure reference to something from your galaxy?"

"Maybe yes, maybe no," Brodey replied vaguely. "You can't possibly know every type of wild creature that dwells in this galaxy."

"Oh, and I suppose you do?" She contested smugly.

"I know more than you might expect," He responded and then paused for a second. "Anyway, it's a marine mammal native to my home planet. It's also an herbivore, thus my comment about your eating habits."

"I eat meat!" She said with a pout. "I just like mine cooked. That's all!"

"You're missing out on a whole world of delicious flavor," He answered flamboyantly, as if he was making a commercial.

"What was that comment about not picking on people for the food they ate because it was juvenile?" She growled angrily as she cut a cooked piece off the carcass with her utility knife.

"Less arguing, more eating," Jag snorted, digging into his meal as well. The others complied eagerly.

In less than fifteen minutes the twenty pound animal was reduced to near-nothing by the ravenous trio. It made a filling meal, sadly enough the most filling meal they'd consumed in months.

"I'm stuffed," Jaina mumbled lazily, yawning from her sudden fullness.

"Don't fall asleep now," Brodey said encouragingly as he struggled to pull himself to his feet. "We still have a few things we need to take care of."

"It's after dark," She offered. "I just want to sleep now."

"Sleep all you want down there on the ground," He laughed mockingly, pulling supplies out of his pack. "But when you get attacked by poisonous creatures I'm going to be hanging safely up above you in a hammock."

"Well, if you put it that way," She moaned, reluctantly standing up to help.

"I've only got one tarp, so we're going to have to share," Brodey added hesitantly.

Jaina stared incredulously into his sky-blue eyes as she shook her head, her ponytail flopping from side to side. "Correction: Jag and I are going to have to share. You're going to find some other place to sleep."

"Now who's the one acting juvenile?" He spat back. "Man, my bug bites are going to have bug bites come tomorrow morning," He complained softly to himself as he scrounged for materials with which he could build a makeshift cot.

~*~*~

She was suspended in a state of numbing tranquility, more bizarre than her wildest dreams. Somewhere inside her head a tiny inkling of a thought informed her that she was betraying her boyfriend with every flick of her tongue in his mouth. The rest of her screamed back at it and told her that this was the right and only thing she should do.

If she'd been a jedi she could have sensed the distress that was pouring off him, though he hid it well. He rarely knew what he wanted, and this was no exception. He was also considering the painful death that awaited him with sharp, pointy teeth if he didn't stop kissing his apprentice's girl. Kyp considered the fact that he was relatively well-fed during this time of war. Horrible thoughts of being Brodey's next good meal finally jerked him back to reality.

"No," He grunted firmly, pushing her away by the shoulders. "I don't care how you feel about your boyfriend at this moment in time. This is still wrong!"

"Huh?" Anja asked, still stunned. "Who said this had anything to do with me being mad at my boyfriend?"

"I can't think of any other reason why you'd kiss me like that," He said with a spiteful snort as he scooted farther away from her.

"Really? None at all? She clucked, pretending to have pity for him. "You can't imagine that I'd ever care about you and how you felt?"

"Not if past experiences speak for themselves," He replied with a small smile as he leaned back against the wall. "Feelings just don't develop out of thin air."

"You've obviously never been hit with an infatuation," She commented vaguely.

"You wouldn't think, but I've got a few stories in that department," He claimed proudly with a smirk. "And are you implying that you only kissed me because you were infatuated with me?"

"Don't get too excited," Anja warned flatly. "I only did it because you looked pitiful, bawling like a baby."

"Amazing," He commented wryly. "You go from sweet to Sith in under six seconds!"

"I'm talented like that," She returned with a glare. "So, since we have so much time on our hands, why don't you tell me about these past infatuations?"

Kyp chuckled slightly, nodding his head at her as his eyes took on a sinister twinkle. "You really want to hear all about my past failures, don't you? Probably should have downloaded another holonovel. That might keep you busy."

"Please!" Anja begged, looking up at him with her wide brown eyes. "I promise that I won't make fun of you!"

"All right, but if you forget and insult me then you'll have to pay the price," He advised softly.

"I'm not going to insult you! Just tell me the story!" She cried anxiously, beaming widely.

"A year or so after the destruction of Carida I ran into a woman who I credit for setting me back on my feet and giving me the strength to keep on going. I didn't really feel anything for her at first. She was attractive, in a rugged sort of way, but nothing jaw-dropping. I gradually began to feel something once we really got to talking and after she practically saved my life I was hooked," He said, then added awkwardly. "She didn't feel anything remotely close for me. I guess it was due to my past, or the fact that I was over ten years younger."

Anja clucked her tongue sadly for a second, shaking her head. "Poor you! She wasn't looking for a sugar daddy," She taunted, covering her mouth only after the words had tumbled out.

"I'm sorry, but I believe that was a wisecrack aimed at me," Kyp said menacingly as he inched closer to her. "Now you're going to have to pay."

"What kind of payment?" Anja asked nervously as she felt the warmth of his breath against her face.

"This," He whispered, leaning in to deliver a tender kiss to her waiting lips.

"Yeah," Anja said in awe when she finally was able to speak. "I think I'm going to have to insult you more, you nerf-brained, wretched piece of poodoo!"

She shrieked piercingly as he pounced.

Kyp yelped out in pain as he landed on his fractured arm. He hadn't considered what it would feel like now that the painkiller was wearing off. As he lay on the ground in a frazzled heap he could hear Anja snickering into her hand. 

  
"Having fun yet, Kyp?" She teased. "That'll teach you to try and attack me!" 

  
"I wasn't trying to attack you!" He grumbled obnoxiously, trying to sit up but failing. "I was just kidding around." 

  
"Since when does the mighty Kyp Durron kid around?" She contested. 

  
"Since your wonderful boyfriend injected me with that stuff!" He spat back as his temper flared. 

  
"You mean this stuff?" She asked, pulling a syringe from her jacket pocket. She didn't give him time for an answer before injecting him with a new dose. Kyp gently fell back against the mattress, once again dazed beyond response. "Sleep well, Kyp. Tomorrow is a busy day."


	9. Huge Surprises

Anja stared down at the snoozing jedi master and watched as he restlessly curled himself up into a ball. Kyp mumbled something incoherent before shivering slightly and flopping over onto his other side to resume sleeping.

'It is a little cold in here,' She thought to herself, pulling her fatigue-patterned throw closer against her body. It had been her belief that jungles were always warm and steamy. Now, as she peeled damp layers of clothing away from her skin that had been soaked from that night's rain storm, she realized that only the steamy part was correct. 

Kyp's teeth chattered, drawing her attention once more. In a fleeting moment of concern she wondered if he could regulate his body temperature under the influence of the extract. It was quickly replaced with spiteful feelings about his previous actions before he was drugged.

"How could you?" She demanded at his sleeping form. "How could you feel it was all right to kiss your own apprentice's girlfriend like that?"

Kyp shivered once more as his teeth resumed their rattling but showed no signs that he'd heard her accusations.

_'You were the one that kissed him first,'_ A nagging voice inside her head kindly reminded. _'What were you thinking when you did that?'_

"I wasn't thinking," Anja whispered as she shook her head slowly. "I just acted on impulse."

She frowned as she strained to find an explanation for that feeling she'd experienced earlier while comforting Kyp. It came out of nowhere, just to give her a good surprise. She even wondered if Kyp had been the one to tug on her heart strings using mind control. He'd been able to manipulate Jaina Solo in a similar way so he could get a favor out of her. Could he possibly need a favor from her? Could he?

_'Not a chance,'_ Her mind argued back. _'Look at him. He's not even able to control his body temperature, let alone use the force to control your mind! He's just lying there in a pitiful little ball, slowly shivering away his body heat while you contemplate silly things.'_

Anja flinched when she noticed, upon further inspection, that Kyp's skin was cool and clammy to the touch and his lips had a faint bluish tint around the edges. In a few short hours he'd become hypothermic, despite not venturing out into the bad weather, and she'd only really noticed it now.

'I need to get him warmed up again, and fast!' She thought frantically as she searched around the chamber for blankets and spare thermal wraps. 'But how?'

'I think you know the answer,' Anja's mind taunted back in a sing-song voice.

"You've got to be kidding," She muttered incredulously. Anja's stomach lurched faintly at the thought of doing it, even though she supposedly now had "feelings" for the man. Still, there didn't seem to be a better way to warm him up under these circumstances.

Anja stripped off her damp clothes down to the last layers, shivering as a breeze blew through the cracked open hatch. She wished for once that she actually had jedi powers as she had to get up and close it the manual way. With half a dozen blankets tucked under one arm she settled herself down next to him on the mattress and covered them both up with layers of insulation.

"You owe me big time, Durron!" She grumbled, swathing the blankets and her arms around him. Kyp uncoiled gradually as his body responded to the warmth of her touch. He exhaled with contentment and held her even closer, almost tight enough to suffocate.

'This is going to be a LONG night,' Anja moaned dejectedly to herself.

~*~*~

_"I've been expecting you," Boomed a voice that shook Brodey from a groggy sleep. The short amount of time that it took to wake up fully and his inexplicable paralysis told him that it hadn't been a natural sleep. Somebody had been powerful enough to induce sleep in him and pin him to the ground. That somebody, who appeared to be the same cloaked figure from the message, was now hovering over him. Brodey strained to get a good glimpse of who he could be but the man's face was hidden under the darkness of his hood._

_"Have you now?" Brodey challenged wryly as he looked around the dank room skeptically. It was dark and looked like the holos he'd seen of Coruscant's crime-filled underbelly. "When's the party going to start?"_

_"There is no party," The man replied threateningly, closing the distance between them. "There's only you and me. We have a lot to discuss, you know," He hissed as he extended five razor-sharp claws and brought his hand closer to the incapacitated young man's face._

_~*~*~_

Brodey's muscles contracted violently and sent him plummeting to the ground from his precarious perch up in a tree. The fall jarred his already-tender ribs and sent a stab of pain through his side. The sound of his fall was enough to make Jaina and Jag stir in their sleep but the following cussing made sure that they were wide awake.

"Narundi, you need to find a better place to sleep!" Jaina said with a muffled groan as she buried her face into Jag's shoulder.

"That was a perfectly good place to sleep," He snapped harshly. "Of course it would be better if I wasn't woken up by crazy dreams all the time!"

"You had another dream?" Jaina asked as she sat up in alarm. "Was it the same old one?"

"No," He answered quietly, poking at their fire with a moss-covered stick that he found on the ground.

"Well?" She inquired after his prolonged silence. "What happened in it?"

"Do we have to get into this right now?" He sighed before yawning widely. "I'd rather talk about it in the morning, when we're all rested."

"It was bad, wasn't it?" She asked, her voice turning icy.

"Jaina," Brodey admonished firmly, using the force to hurtle himself back up into the tree. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Jaina whispered as she lay back down next to Jag and wrapped her arms around his chest. She was comforted by his warmth but it was still a while before Jaina Solo nodded off again.

~*~*~

Kyp awoke with the strange feeling that he was somewhere he shouldn't be. The last thing he remembered was right before the crash. Everything else after that was just a blur. One big, warm, soft-skinned, sweet-smelling blur.

His olive eyes burst open in shock as his greatest fear suddenly became a reality. Anja Gallandro clung to his bare chest and, because of her lack of a force connection, was still sleeping fitfully in his arms. At some point during the past night he'd ended up half-naked under a blanket with a scantily-clad woman he couldn't stand.

'Forget the Vong,' He thought to himself as she finally woke and sleepily stroked her hand up his chest. 'You've never been a more endangered species than you are right now.'

"Um, Anja?" He asked nervously as her fingers caressed him.

"Mmmm?" She mumbled drowsily, staring up at him with her dark eyes sleep-encrusted and her long caf-colored mane in disarray.

"We need to talk," He stated tightly as the panic inside him started to rise.

"About what?" She asked innocently while still clinging tightly to him.

"Last night," He hissed through clenched teeth, his dark eyes boring into hers. "What happened last night, Anja?"

"Demanding, aren't we?" Anja replied coyly to his outburst as she touched him gently on the chin. "You had a pretty nasty-looking injury. We thought it was best for you to be sedated until it healed."

"Who's we?" Kyp asked harshly, grabbing her wrists tightly and pulling her closer. "Better yet, why are we lying here in nothing but our underwear?"

"You were hypothermic," She explained evenly, undaunted by his threatening stare. "I had to warm you up, that's all."

Kyp shook his head incredulously as he stood up, taking her with him. "I don't believe a word you just said," He growled bitterly, raising his voice again. "You don't stroke the chest of a man you only slept with to keep warm. Especially not a man you supposedly hate! Now answer me, Anja! What happened last night?"

Silence permeated the atmosphere for the next few seconds as the pair stared into each other's eyes blankly. Anja finally broke the uncomfortable silence. "You got a little crazy on the analgesics and we ended up kissing a bit. Nothing else happened!"

"Oh, ok. That's nice to know," Kyp said pleasantly as he gave her a fake smile. "Now tell me, were you also taking the same pain killer that I was?" He asked, his voice gradually changing back to a growl.

Anja felt her face go hot as she struggled to come up with a good answer. "No," She whispered. It was the best she could do.

"I see. So, did you try and stop me, or did you kiss me right back?" He asked angrily as his arousal level shot through the roof.

"I might have. . .kissed you first," She mumbled awkwardly in a low voice that was hard to hear. 

"What was that?" He practically shouted. "I didn't hear you right!"

"I kissed you first! There, are you happy? I only did it because I felt sorry for you after hearing you go on about how nobody likes you!" She screamed back at a volume that almost deafened him.

Kyp's face immediately went ashen as his angry expression contorted into one of absolute terror. He slowly lowered himself back down onto the mattress and pulled his knees to his chest.

"I'm a dead man," He croaked, looking up at her with wide, pleading eyes as he shook his head sorrowfully.

"Oh, come on! Don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit? I mean, we kissed a few times but so what? It's not like Brodey's going to be that upset if he finds out! And if this is about me feeling sorry for you then forget I said that. It was just in the heat of the moment and I didn't mean to come across like that," Anja ranted quickly, not letting Kyp get a word in edgewise.

"No, that's not it," He said in an airy voice, thoroughly stunned.

"Then what's wrong?" She asked concernedly while crouching down next to him and putting a tentative arm around his shoulders.

He turned his head to look at her with eyes so full of pain and pity that Anja could almost feel it rolling off of him, even without the force. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. The only sound she heard was the creak of the ship and the snapping of branches as they pitched closer to the ground.

~*~*~

Horrendous pain served as Brodey's alarm clock the following morning, waking him from yet another night of torturous dreams and nightmares. He sucked in sharply as he tried to right himself but discovered that his ribs were worse than before. Now the only trick would be getting down out of that tree.

Brodey levitated himself from the tree limbs down to the mossy ground, being extra careful so he didn't jostle himself the wrong way. Once he stood on semi-firm ground he took to caring for the sudden inflammation. He cautiously pulled his shirt up, holding the bottom of it under his chin, and gazed in awe at the large bruised areas on his abdomen. Poking curiously at one of the tender spots only yielded another twinge of pain and he began to wish, once again, that he'd inherited more healing powers. This was not what they needed at this point in their trip. If he didn't find a way to heal fast then he'd be hindering both the mission, whatever was left of it at this point, and their survival efforts.

"Brodey, what are you up to over there?" Jaina asked from behind.

"Nothing," He lied as he agonizingly stuffed his shirt back into his pants. "Nothing at all. How did you sleep?"

"Not too bad," Jaina said sardonically. "It would have been great if this guy wasn't crowding me so much!" She added, pointing a thumb back at Jag.

"Hey!" Jag protested with what looked like a glare. Coming from a man like Jag, who had only begun to express himself like a true Corellian quite recently, it was hard to tell.

"No disagreeing with the Goddess, Fel!" Brodey ordered, in spite of Jag outranking him by a ridiculous margin.

"Why shouldn't I?" Jag challenged obstinately as he turned his glare on Brodey. "You do it all the time!"

'That's more like it,' Brodey thought to himself as he observed Jag's expression and noted its sudden improvement.

"Both of you are going to follow my orders because this is an occupied world. You never know who might be lurking around the corner. If the enemy hears you countermanding me all over the galaxy then we've just lost another battle," Jaina ordered sternly.

"Yes ma'am, Your Goddess-ship," Brodey replied with a salute. Jaina balked for a second before recognizing that he was serious for once.

"Yes Goddess," Jag Fel answered, stone-faced.

"Now, Brodey, I order you to tell me what it is that's so interesting under your shirt," She said with a touch of arrogance.

"Now hold on!" He whispered coarsely. "Since when was stripping part of the deal?"

"Quit stalling like a jerk and show me!" Jaina barked. "I'm in charge of this unit and I demand to know what's going on with my mortals!"

"Nice three-person unit you've got here!" Brodey chuckled and winced as he found out that wasn't such a hot idea.

"Narundi, don't make me smack you!" She yelled ferociously. "Out with it!"

"I don't see why this is such a big deal," He groaned, reluctantly pulling up his shirt for them to see. Brodey rolled his eyes as they gasped simultaneously.

"Brodey, why didn't you tell me?" Jaina asked, her eyes wide with shock.

~*~*~

"Shavit!" Kyp hissed while steadying himself from the ship's sudden movement. Moments later the movement stopped, leaving his heart in his throat. It also dawned on him, after trying to pull air back into his lungs and failing, that Anja held him in an overpowering hug.

"What now?" She whispered in terror as she looked wildly around the cabin.

"Letting go of me would be a start!" He answered frantically in a strained voice.

"Oops, sorry," Anja said, scolding herself for jumping into his arms at the first sign of danger. What she was doing just didn't seem right to her anymore. She couldn't tell if she wanted to be with her handsome boyfriend or a rogue like Durron, and it was slowly chipping away at her sanity. Right then, as she released her hold on Kyp, she could smell the musky scent of sweat mixed with day-old aftershave on his neck. Once again she was met with the bizarre urge to reach up and softly brush a kiss against his chin.

Kyp must have sensed her feelings, or perhaps just her hesitation, because he tilted his head down to look at her with dark, probing eyes. It occurred to Anja that she'd never really taken the time to study his features and she was surprised to discover that he had remarkably long eyelashes. The old Anja inside wondered smugly how he'd like being called girly but she managed to keep her mouth in check.

"Are you quite done yet?" He asked impatiently. "It's imperative that we get out of here fast and you're busy getting all starry-eyed! There's a time and a place for that, sister!"

"You are so repulsively arrogant!" She hissed in a snit, carefully following him through the hatch and down the ladder. "You know that? I don't know what kind of woman could ever put up with you!"

"One that knows what she's looking for, for a start," Kyp laughed as the corner of his mouth curled up in a sneer.

"That was a low blow!" She mumbled tightly, fury dancing in her eyes.

"Good, we're even," He snorted.

"For what? What have I done to you that made you want revenge?" Anja protested, feeling a little clueless.

"Well, let's see. For starters, you kissed me, among other things, even though you have a perfectly good boyfriend that loves you! You're obviously trying your best to sabotage that relationship and using me as an instrument of betrayal. You took advantage of me when I was in a compromised state. Did I miss anything?" Kyp fumed sarcastically.

"First off, it was just a kiss! Please stop making such a big deal over it! Also, where are you getting this 'among other things' idea from?" She yelled back.

"You are such a horrible liar!" He chuckled cynically. "You know very well where I'm coming from!"

"No Kyp, I don't," She snapped. "Please explain to me what these 'other things' are."

Another knot was added to the collection that was forming in Kyp's stomach as this conversation progressed. He wanted to believe that she was telling him the truth, that the situation hadn't escalated the previous night, but she was just too difficult to read. Knowing that he could never get a straight answer out of her brought him no solace and only augmented his anxiety. She was blissfully unaware of her condition while he was busy counting off the hours he had left to live.

"I'm waiting," She sang, tapping her foot on the squishy ground.

"You want to know what's wrong?" He asked brusquely. "Fine, I'll tell you."

~*~*~

"It's not that bad!" He protested, regretting the increase in volume as a twinge passed along his ribs. Lowering his voice, he added, "Sticks, you're worrying a little too much about me. I didn't survive for this long because somebody was watching me like a hawk-bat."

"Sounds like false bravado to me," Jag observed thoughtfully. "Narundi, I also happen to be a very independent man, but I know when to seek help. Right now your chances of surviving without any help from either of us are miniscule at best. I'd highly recommend a change in agenda."

The small hairs on the back of Brodey's neck bristled as he felt his pride singe along the edges. He hated it when others proved him to be so incredibly wrong but somehow it was worse with Jagged Fel. It had crossed his mind more than once that Jag bore a striking resemblance to the father and brother he had learned to despise. Maybe it was because Jag was ruled by that logic thing for which Brodey had developed distaste. It seemed like a small miracle that they'd become friends at all, but here he was, heeding the advice that Jag had to offer. Perhaps if his father and Ch'aanlei still lived then there was a chance for reconciliation with them as well.

"Brodey, did you hear what I just said?" Jaina asked sweetly, jolting him back into reality.

"Of course not. He was too busy chafing from my suggestions," Jag said in a bell-clear voice as he smiled slightly in Brodey's direction. Something in the older man's eyes made Brodey wonder if Jag really could sense his thoughts through the force.

"Well, I was just saying that you really do need to work with us a little more, like Jag said, or else we'll never leave this rock alive. Allowing me to apply a bacta patch to those ribs would be a good start," She suggested hopefully instead of ordering him to comply. To everyone's surprise, including Brodey's, he shut up and went along with it.

Jaina placed a few strips across Brodey's black-and-blue abdomen, being extra careful to avoid touching any of the most-inflamed spots. He showed no outward signs of pain so she surmised that she'd done her job well.

"There, does that feel any better?" She asked with concern. Brodey answered her question with a slight narrowing of his eyes. "Hey, I'm only trying to be helpful! You have this amazing inclination to look a gift nerf in the mouth, you know that?"

"I appreciate your help," He said gruffly while stooping to stuff his belongings into his pack. "But I've had more than enough mothers for this lifetime. I don't need yet another."

Jaina responded only with a somber nod. She knew from experience that Brodey had a number of open wounds from his past that he kept hidden. Pressing on them was a bad idea under normal conditions. Now was not the time to probe deep into Brodey's psyche.

"So," She said with a clap of her hands. "What chance do we have of you being able to hunt this morning?"

"Well, since I'm in a lot of pain from just walking around I'd say those chances were pretty slim," He replied matter-of-factly. "Although you could wait for a large creature to kill me and then wait to scavenge from the remains."

"Brodey!" Jaina cried in disgust. "I can't believe you would even suggest something like that!"

"I can," Jag muttered flatly. "Haven't you learned by now that his mind is seriously perverted?"

"I'm not being perverted, I'm being realistic!" Brodey hissed in frustration. "Come on Fel, you know what that word "realistic" means."

"I know the meaning of the word," Jag said haughtily. "I fail to see why that matters."

"Well, tell me how realistic it is for a wounded animal to bring home game from the hunt," Brodey demanded, growing impatient again with his concrete companion.

"Not very realistic at all," Jag admitted with a sigh.

"Exactly. So, you should take my lightsaber," Brodey instructed, unclipping his weapon from his belt and handing it to Jag. "And go with Jaina to hunt for breakfast while I stay here and watch the camp."

Jag turned his head to look at Jaina, who shrugged once before igniting her blade and cutting her way into the jungle. He carefully switched on his own weapon and followed in her tracks.

~*~*~

"Something happened last night, between the two of us. I'm not sure how but I know it happened," Kyp said as he exhaled, trying to ward off the dizziness that was plaguing him. Everything was just too much for him to grasp.

Anja crinkled up her nose and squinted in anger as she digested his words. "Cute Kyp, very cute. Except that I don't remember any 'goings on' between now and when you passed out."

"I'd love to believe you, except for one very small detail," Kyp muttered smugly, crossing one arm over his chest and scratching his chin with his other hand.

"Would you just say it?" Anja screamed intolerantly, waving her hands spastically in the air. "I'm so sick of you dangling this piece of information over my head! Please tell me why you think we did something last night!"

"I'm trying to think of the best way to break the news. I don't want you to kill me. That's Brodey's job," Kyp said thoughtfully, nodding his head.

"Ok," Anja answered with a nod, mimicking his expression perfectly. "How about if you don't tell me right now then I kill you anyway?"

"All right. Fine. You're pregnant," Kyp snapped, spinning around and throwing his hands up in futility.

Anja made a strange face, like she was choking on something very large. "Say that again?" She gasped once she managed to swallow.

He turned back to look her in the eye as best he could at the moment and placed a hand on her abdomen. "You're going to have a baby," He croaked, still gazing at her with those sad, dark eyes.

She bit her lower lip as she tried to restrain herself from lashing out at him. It only worked for a millisecond before her palm expertly found the side of his face.

"That's not funny, Kyp!" She cried wrathfully as she continued to lose control of her anger. "Actually, it's downright SICK that you'd lie about something like that!"

"I'm not lying!" Kyp whined, his voice cracking like a teenager's. "Why would I lie about something this serious?"

"I don't know! Why would you?" She interrupted, shoving him backwards into a tree.

Kyp reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her close until their foreheads touched. Anja closed her eyes, too mad at him to look him straight in the eye, but the warmth of his breath on her face was persistent.

"I'm telling the truth. You're pregnant," He whispered in a ragged voice. Finally the tears of disbelief came forth and stung the corners of her closed eyelids. She did believe him and that's what hurt her most of all. She instantly wanted to hurt him, just like he'd hurt her. She wanted to make him feel every bit as vulnerable as she did.

Anja choked wretchedly on a sob as she pounded her fists into his chest as hard as she could muster. She imagined herself finding just the right spot to kill him with a single well-placed punch, and pulled her hand back for the strike. Kyp anticipated her movements in the force, for his hand was right there to neutralize her attack. He used the force from her arm to twist her around and pin her back against his chest. With one last motion he brought her down to the ground, still holding her tightly.

She continued to sob feebly as she thumped her free fist weakly against the arms that embraced her. Through her sounds of anguish she heard an unfamiliar sound that caught her by surprise. Anja looked up to see a rivulet of tears streaking the jedi master's face as he buried his face in her hair. He was upset, hurting from the pain he'd caused her. Or perhaps just feeling sorry for himself. Whatever the reason, she now felt satisfied with his grief.


	10. Ambush!

Ambush

~*~*~

"We are going to starve to death," Jag moaned, sighing as he ran a hand through his short, sweat-soaked hair.

"Don't be ridiculous," Jaina chided softly, trudging along behind him through the path in the underbrush. "We can survive for about a week with no food at all. At least we're bringing back something."

"That little thing?" He exclaimed in anguish, pointing to the small animal dangling from her hand. His stomach had been growling loud enough for her to hear all morning and there was no doubt that he was ravenous. "That measly animal is probably a hors d'oeuvre for our feline friend back there!"

"He'll have to learn to live with less until his ribs heal. So will we," Jaina said with a melancholy sigh.

"I say we keep on hunting," He replied gruffly. "It's no use coming back to camp with so little to eat."

"We'd have more to eat if you learned how to be lighter on your feet!" She accused wryly. "You keep on tromping around the jungle, scaring all the game away!"

Jag frowned back at her and wished he could find his tongue to utter something blistering in her direction. He would have no such luck. Her dark mocha eyes looked playfully up at him and made his insides do that weird flip flop he'd grown used to feeling when she was around. "Perhaps Your Holiness might give me a few lessons on moving with grace?"

"I never said you didn't move with grace," Jaina answered with a shocked smile. "You grew up in an imperial culture. I'm sure they taught you how to carry yourself properly. That's part of the problem. You're marching around like a soldier instead of a predator sneaking up on his prey."

"I'm sorry. I will try to be sneakier in the future," He whispered softly, reaching out to brush his fingers against the small patch of exposed skin on the back of her neck. 

Jaina almost jumped out of her boots from the sudden caress and shivered violently. Her immediate response after shock was one of anger. She whirled around to remind him that flirting with the goddess was a breech of protocol but her lips were abruptly captured in an arduous union that was hot enough to melt durasteel. 

'So much for protesting,' She thought, smiling inwardly as her tongue danced around lazily in the sweltering heat of his mouth.

"Mmmm, how was that for sneaky?" Jag asked as he finally broke the tight seal of their kiss.

"Not bad," She answered thoughtfully. "But I think you need a little more practice."

"I'd be honored if you'd give me that opportunity, Goddess," He whispered into her ear while grazing his lips against her cheek.

"Gladly," She muttered back eagerly as she pulled his mouth back down to meet her own.

~*~*~

"Are we sure of his whereabouts?" The young woman asked as she settled down into the copilot's seat of the passenger vessel. She peered at him curiously from under her navy velvet cloak with pale blue eyes.

Her companion didn't flinch. He didn't even move as he spoke from beneath the dark hood of his jedi cloak. "I am certain that we will find him in the place I have foreseen. He cannot leave. He is trapped, and waiting for rescue."

"Excellent," She replied coldly, staring ahead out the viewport at the blue and pink swirls of hyperspace. "That will make our job much easier, Uncle."

"I'm counting on it," The hooded man said sinisterly.

~*~*~

Dark green eyes were all that Anja had seen for the past half hour. He stared at her and she stared right back at him from the other side of the clearing. They both sat, their backs to opposite trees, and looked at each other strangely. Neither one of them knew what to feel, both about the situation and about the other person.

"Stop it," She ordered half-heartedly.

"Stop what?"

"Looking at me like that," She snapped, growing impatient with his naiveté.

"What else am I supposed to do?" He asked loudly, the guilty look returning to his face.

"You're the 'all-powerful jedi.' You should be able to figure that out," Anja said callously.

"Thank you for your stereotypes, but the fact of the matter is that I can't figure much of anything out lately, let alone this!" He growled with futility.

"I can't figure anything out either, thanks to you and your crazy theories that something happened last night!" She yelled back. "Why couldn't you just let it be Brodey's baby, huh? Stupid, insolent jerk!"

"All right then, it's Brodey's baby. Won't he be overjoyed to find that out! That STILL doesn't change the fact that things are different for us now," He said sternly, raising a dark eyebrow at her.

"In your dreams, Durron," She scoffed. "Things are just as hostile as ever. If you weren't so brain dead you might pick up on that."

"I was referring to the things that happened before we started bickering like stupid children once again. Deny it all you want, but I felt you open up to me last night. I felt some unusual sentiments coming from you this morning, and I feel the conflict in you now as we speak."

"The only conflict I feel right now is from being torn between different ways to hurt you if you don't shut up!" Anja threatened, her features tight and angry.

"Whatever," He sighed, finally tiring of her barrage of insults. "So, are we going to continue sitting here feeling sad or are we going to get breakfast?"

She gave him once last loathing glance before grunting as she got to her feet. Her hands went to her belt, unclasping the antique lightsaber she'd brought along and releasing the acid yellow blade so it completed its extension within a few centimeters of his nose.

"I wouldn't think about it if I were you," He warned, narrowing his eyes until they were nothing but dark slits.

"Or you'll what? Use the dark side on me? Kill me?" She asked mockingly, smiling as she watched his expression turn sour. "Get real, Durron."

Anja jumped as his foot appeared in the blink of an eye to kick the lightsaber's hilt clear from her grasp. It rustled uselessly through a patch of thick jungle grass before he called it up into his hand.

"I just did," He laughed with a mischievous grin. "Besides, I'm not going to let a lady in your condition near any dangerous weapons. You might hurt yourself."

"Kyp?"

"Yes, m'lady?" He asked in his best patronizing tone.

"I hate you."

"Good to know," He chuckled.

~*~*~

"Have you contacted our 'foot soldier' yet?" The young woman asked, not bothering to turn her head away from the datapad in her lap to look at him.

"Rest assured, I have taken care of it, as I have told you many times in the past half hour. Learn to relax," He muttered dryly from beneath his cloak.

"It's a little hard to relax when I'm convinced our plan is going to fail! If only we had more money, we could hire some real help," She snapped, pulling down the hood of her cloak and eyeing him with pure blue disgust. Her chin-length ebony hair had a wild, unkempt quality, contrasting strikingly with the smooth ivory skin of her contoured face.

"None of us have any money since the dynasty's fall. You know that, Sir'tesé," He said calmly, almost scolding her. "We have to make the best with what we can get."

"I know," She muttered gloomily. "I've just been waiting for this for way too long."

"As have I. He needs somebody to give him a major wake-up call, and I intend to give him the full treatment," The hooded man drawled with a deep chuckle.

Sir'tesé smiled at the thought, her blue eyes twinkling with marked anticipation. Soon it would all be over. Soon they would have him.

~*~*~

Brodey sat at the base of a tree in silence as he allowed the force to seep into him and mend his wounded ribs. The soothing sounds of the early morning jungle helped him sink deeper into a healing trance and he made good progress. His mind wandered onto other issues as he knit the cracks in his ribs and diminished the bruising in the surrounding tissues. The most urgent of these issues was the troubling dream from the night before.

'What does it all mean?' He asked himself. 'It's impossible for us to make the rendezvous unless we magically encounter a fully-functional ship in the middle of the jungle.'

Brodey mentally shook his head at the thought that the Yuuzhan Vong could have overlooked such an anomaly. Especially an anomaly of the abominable variety. He concluded that they would have destroyed any such ship months before.

'Then how am I going to meet with this person if I'm stuck on this rock for at least the next few days?' He questioned, letting the thought reverberate through his mind for a few moments. 'Unless. . .'

He broke away from his trance abruptly, his clear blue eyes bursting open. It all made perfect sense. The hooded man knew where he'd been even before Brodey received his message. No doubt he knew where Brodey was now. The man was coming to meet him.

_'Jaina,'_ He said through the force, reaching out to brush against her mind. The response he got back was somewhat less than friendly.

_'Brodey, not now!'_ She thought back, then paused. _'We're hunting!'_

_'Jaina, dear, I'm not exactly a master of basic, but I do believe that 'hunting' is not the word you're looking for,'_ He teased. _'I need both of you back as soon as possible.'_

_'Why, is something wrong?'_ She asked, the tone of her voice inside his head echoing alarm.

_'No, but I have a feeling it will be,_' He responded, spinning around hurriedly as he detected noise and motion from the brush surrounding the clearing. He moved his hand to his belt, searching for his lightsaber, but remembered he'd given it to Jag. _'Right now.'_

~*~*~

"Hurry up, Kyp! I'm starving!" Anja whined, not satisfied with the length of time it was taking Kyp to start a fire.

"Give it a couple of weeks," He retorted smugly. "You won't want to even look at food after those hormones kick in."

"All the more reason why you should get off your lazy rear and start that kriffing fire!" She said, her annoyed voice sugar-coated.

"If the princess would just sit down on that rock over there and shut her pie hole then, and only then, might I start this kriffing fire!" He bellowed forebodingly.

Anja exhaled once before spinning on her heel and marching back to where the ship was slowly sinking into the surrounding muck. Kyp watched her retreat out of the corner of his eye as he concentrated on what he was trying to accomplish. It was a futile effort. The sticks were too wet from the previous night's random storm. He looked longingly at the dead animal they'd caught, wishing there was some way to quickly cook it.

"Anja, I don't think going back into the ship is such a hot idea. That thing isn't too stable right now," He warned as he shook his head and laughed at her for being so childish. "Don't sink Brodey's ship just because you're mad at him for impregnating you."

"I am not mad at Brodey, Kyp, and even though I know it's difficult for your puny mind to grasp, I'm not mad at you either," She said snottily, exiting the ship as quickly as she'd entered. Her hand moved up and down vigorously as she shook a can that appeared to contain some sort of liquid. "I'm just trying to save both of us by making sure we have something to eat."

"Oh? And you're going to 'save us' with that can right there?" He laughed scathingly. "That can, huh? Wow, that is funny! I never knew you were such a comedian, Anja!"

"Watch and learn, gungan-brain!" She answered wryly as she punctured a hole in the can with her utility blade and emptied its contents onto the pile of sticks and assorted brush.

"Wonderful, you've made the sticks wetter. Good job," Kyp said, rolling his eyes at her stupidity.

"Would you just watch? Jerk!" She exclaimed, smacking him on the shoulder.

She yanked the igniter from the jedi master's grasp, smiling evilly as she placed it near the sticks and thumbed the switch. The mound of kindling immediately burst into flames, leaving Kyp open-mouthed and staring.

"Behold, the wonders of hair care products," She said gleefully, pleased that she'd been able to one-up the great Kyp Durron.

"I never knew that being vain was so useful," He retaliated.

"I'm surprised that you haven't found all the uses for vanity. You know, since it's such an important aspect of your daily life," She said scathingly, narrowing her eyes at him. "Then again, I guess a man of your brain power might have trouble figuring those things out on his own."

"Well, thank you for enlightening me, both in the ways of vanity and in the ways of being a total and disgustingly heinous-"

Kyp winced suddenly, bringing his hands up to massage his temples.

"Go on," Anja said, waiting expectantly for him to finish the insult. "Disgustingly heinous what?"

"Trouble," He croaked.

"Is that the best you can do? You really are pathetic," She mocked as she cut a piece of flesh from the animal with her knife and roasted it above the blazing fire.

"No, I sense trouble. Something's happening to Brodey," He mumbled nervously.

"I swear," She said as she looked down sadly at the meat that could have been her breakfast. "One of these days I'm going to be the one who needs rescuing, that way I can get all of you back and interrupt your breakfast!"

"How nice of you," He replied with a disapproving glance. "Now, are you coming or not?"

"I'm coming," She sighed, throwing the piece of meat into the dirt.

~*~*~

"I couldn't have picked a better time to be unarmed and injured," Brodey muttered apprehensively as he dropped to a crouch. He braced himself for the pain but was pleasantly surprised to find it was gone. The healing techniques seemed to have done their job, for the most part, but he could tell that he wouldn't be doing back flips any time soon.

He held his hands out in front, extending his claws to their full length and hoping they might offer him some protection. He could find no evidence in the force of a creature even existing in the brush, aside from the sound vibrations that his sensitive ears picked up, and that worried him. There was only one organism he'd encountered that matched this description.

A Yuuzhan Vong warrior, in full armor, rose from the bushes as if he was following a telepathic cue from Brodey's thoughts. In his right hand he held an amphistaff; in his left, a coufee. He glared down at his prey with slits of obsidian for eyes, sizing him up before attacking.

_'Brodey!'_ Jaina called to him. _'How are you holding up over there?'_

_'Oh, just beautifully, Goddess! I've got a Vong here who's looking awfully interested in dissecting my corpse. Perhaps your divine influence could get here a little faster and talk him out of it?'_ He suggested, his voice oozing sarcasm.

_'I'm running as fast as I can! I'm not a member of a very fast species, if you remember,'_ She responded dryly. _'Try stalling him until we get there!'_

'Ha! Try stalling him!' Brodey repeated in his own head with a snort. 'I wonder how you go about stalling a Vong warrior. . .'

He quickly drew himself up to his full height before the warrior could advance, hoping that he might scare the Yuuzhan Vong away. He swallowed back his disappointment as the other creature took a step forward. Brodey brandished his set of razor-sharp claws and flashed his teeth to show off his larger-than-normal canines, but nothing seemed to prevent the warrior's onslaught. His previous hunch was looking more plausible by the minute: This wasn't a random attack.

"Why don't you pull up a seat?" Brodey asked boldly, gesturing to an invisible chair at the edge of the clearing. "Breakfast should be arriving in just a few short minutes."

The warrior hesitated unexpectedly, a look of confusion on his mutilated face. It was quite possibly the ugliest set of scars he'd seen on a warrior. Most of the warriors he'd seen had organized scarring patterns, but this particular warrior had massive irregularities of the scar tissue.

'Is this guy even a warrior?' Brodey asked himself while watching the Vong attempt to control his amphistaff and fail. 'Why would anybody try and capture me with a fake warrior?'

He sensed it, albeit much too late. The hand coming from behind, reaching out to grasp around the base of his skull. He moved to counter but discovered that he no longer had control of his limbs. Brodey fell helplessly to the ground, his skeletal muscles paralyzed from the force attack. The final thing he remembered seeing, before he was wrapped in the dark shroud of unconsciousness, was the same dark-hooded figure and the silhouette of a hand coming down over his face.

"Is he still breathing?" Sir'tesé asked anxiously. "Please say no."

"You seem awful eager to see him perish," The hooded man commented flatly as he waved a hand over Brodey's nostrils, checking for steady breathing.

"Yeah, well, it's not like I have any warm and fuzzy feelings for the guy," She growled sardonically. "He did try to kill me, you know."

The hooded man sighed from under his cloak, and through the force she could feel him roll his eyes as he shook his head. "He was just a boy. When will you get over it?"

"Never," She said abruptly, crossing her arms over her chest in defiance. "You of all people know how talented our family is at keeping grudges."

"Yes, and if I hadn't gotten over it then a young couple in love, my own daughter, would have suffered greatly," He replied softly, admonishing her.

"If you hadn't gotten over it then you daughter never would have married Narundi, that's correct. But then she would have never conceived that demon spawn who single-handedly drove our galaxy to ruin," Sir'tesé snapped, gesturing at Brodey's motionless form. "So, if you look at it from that angle, it's too bad you didn't keep your grudge."

"Never," He began as he advanced toward her, throwing back the hood of his cloak to glare at her with cold, blue eyes. "Speak of my grandson in that way again."

Cold fury shone in his eyes as a side of him she'd never seen before was revealed. She'd heard stories of her great-uncle R'aa'nlan's wrath from old friends of the family who loved to discuss the days before his reconciliation with Cel'aanaeus Narundi. She decided to back off since she didn't have a strong desire to witness his wrath first-hand.

"Let's get back to the ship. His friends will be returning at any moment, looking for him," He ordered quickly as he levitated the young man's body and took off through the underbrush with amazing speed. She obeyed instantly as she sensed the approach of two new beings.

Seconds later, Jaina and Jag arrived in the deserted clearing, panting hard from running the entire distance back.

"He's gone!" She gasped, not wanting to believe that a single Yuuzhan Vong warrior could even get the best of an injured Brodey.

"Somebody must have taken him away from here," Jag muttered thoughtfully.

"Of course they did!" She exclaimed. "He wouldn't go down without a fight. He must have put up a struggle against the Vong."

"That's the problem," Jag whispered darkly, his eyes narrowing as he continued to think. "There isn't any evidence of a struggle."

"So how would the Yuuzhan Vong take him away from here if there wasn't a struggle?" She asked, growing nervous as Jag slowly reached for his blaster, his gaze fixated on something in the brush.

"That's simple. The Yuuzhan Vong didn't take him. Someone else did," He replied in a chilling whisper that Jaina had to strain to hear.

"How do you know that?" She whispered back, reaching for the hilt of her own weapon and creeping along beside him as he moved closer to the edge of the clearing.

A screech of pain and a loud thump followed the accurate shot from Jag's blaster. Jaina's brow knitted in confusion as she watched him wade through the brush to the source of the sound. Curious to discover what he'd hit, she ignited her blade and followed cautiously behind.

"I thought so," Jag said with a nod as he stood above the wounded Yuuzhan Vong. "Just a decoy. Who do you think he's working for?"

"I'm not sure," Jaina muttered menacingly. "But I do intend to find that out."


	11. Past Connections

"Has the thought crossed your mind that we're probably too far away from wherever Brodey is to help him?" She gasped, following breathlessly behind the sprinting jedi master. 

  
"It has," Kyp admitted with annoyance, risking a glance back in her direction and narrowly missing a tree because of it. "But think about it this way. They couldn't have gone very far before the sun set last night. It was getting fairly dark by the time they left." 

  
"I'm impressed," Anja scoffed with a quirky smile. "You actually remembered something from last night." 

  
"Yeah, only the unimportant stuff," He snorted, looking back at her forebodingly. 

  
"Don't get started on that again, I'm warning you!" Anja groaned in frustration. "I'll kick your head in if you keep it up!" 

  
Kyp stopped suddenly, scuffing his boots on the ground as he skidded to a halt and turned on his heel to face her. His dark, murderous eyes penetrated deeply into her skull in a manner that was almost physically painful. She suddenly wanted nothing more than to look away but he held her attention on him. 

  
"I'd love to see you try," He whispered chillingly as he forced her back with his gaze until she stood with her back to a tree, her wrists clenched in his hands. 

  
Anja's eyes opened wide as terror filled her and constricted her throat. Everybody knew about Carida and Kyp's dark-side potential. Anybody who knew Jaina Solo also knew of his mind-manipulating skills. She was absolutely petrified that he might use both on her and her unborn child. An epiphany occurred to Anja and she finally realized the magnitude of her situation. She was no longer just looking out for herself. She was truly responsible for the life another human being, or whatever it was, and that scared her more than any damage Kyp might inflict. 

  
"You still there?" He asked, bewildered by her distant expression. He'd held her gaze but that was all. Her mind was traversing the far reaches of the Unknown Regions, apparently immune to his nudging. Kyp chided himself, making a mental note to brush up on his techniques. 

  
"Please don't," She begged in a sorrowful voice, her tear-filled eyes shimmering like two large reflecting pools in the midday sun. 

  
"Don't what?" Kyp questioned, confused by her hasty change in mood. Surely she didn't think he'd really hurt her, did she? 

  
"Hurt my baby," She whimpered helplessly as a lone tear trickled down her cheek. 

  
"I would never do that," He said adamantly, his tone softer. He dropped both of her wrists and brought one hand up to her cheek, grazing a thumb along its contours and wiping away her tears. "I'd never hurt you either." 

  
"You promise?" She asked in a quiet voice, still looking up into his dark eyes. This time, however, he didn't sense fear when he brushed his mind against hers. All he could feel was confidence, and something more. 

  
He didn't know why, or how, but something compelled him to embrace her tightly. Kyp pulled her in close, picking her up off the ground entirely to capture her lips in a fierce kiss. When he finally released her, more confounded than ever, he vowed to discover the source of the mind control powers she had over him. 

  
"Well, that was unexpected!" She laughed, thumping her hand against his chest. 

  
"You're telling me," He exclaimed with a sigh. There would be no end to the questions running through his head, and no sleep for him tonight, for he could no longer take solace in her reassuring words. She was pregnant, and the chances of him being the father were growing to magnificent proportions inside his head. Definitely no sleep tonight.

~*~*~

"Wake up," A strong female voice commanded, and Brodey's eyelids stirred and slowly lifted. "Now!" 

  
He felt a sharp sting as she brought her open palm in contact with his jaw, jarring him fully awake from his force-induced sleep. 

  
"Jeez, lady, I was gettin' there!" He said sourly, wishing he could move his still-paralyzed hand up to rub his throbbing cheek. "You don't have to be such a _daa'rata_ about it." 

  
He felt her anger level increase, as impossible as it seemed with how angry she was previously, from his comment about her being a female, four-legged mammal native to his home world. 

  
'It seems I've struck a nerve,' He thought to himself with a smile. Definitely a N'aanwarian female. He just had to figure out why she hated him so much. It didn't make sense that anybody would hate him. After all, his uncle was the horrible tyrant ruler responsible for the economic and political downfall of his planet. He hadn't done anything. 

  
"That's the problem, Narundi. You haven't done anything. You ran off like a coward the instant things got too hot to handle, leaving the big problems for us to deal with," She hissed, pulling him up by the shirt collar until he could feel her hot breath on his face. 

  
"Leave him alone," Commanded a male voice from somewhere beyond Brodey's range of vision. "Let me handle this." 

  
"Can't you let me rough him up a bit before you start in with him?" She asked in a husky, threatening tone. 

  
_ "Na ta'rian to biryan'aa sci, Siri!"_ He responded in an equally harsh voice. 

  
"As you wish," She said with a bow of her head, retreating reluctantly. "Once you're done with him, he's mine." 

  
"Once I'm done with him? I'm not sure there will be much to deal with, once I'm done with him," He said solemnly, sounding frighteningly convincing. 

  
"Hello, I'm still sitting right here, and I can hear every single word that you two are saying," Brodey said loudly over their discussion. "If you want to talk about my fate, do it in a way so I can't listen in, eh?" 

  
"Please let me put him out of his misery!" The young woman squealed in a strained voice as she stomped one foot on the metal floor of the ship. Brodey watched helplessly as her fingers reached down to brush against the metal cylinder clipped to her belt. 

  
"Siri, you're going to go into the back of the ship and take a nap," The hooded man ordered, waving a hand at her to manipulate her thoughts. The young woman nodded slowly before disappearing through a door in the back of the cabin. 

  
"I've been waiting for this moment, for a very long time," The hooded man said benignly as he paced back and forth in front of his powerless audience. 

  
"Have you now?" Brodey asked defiantly, feeling a sense of déjà vu. This was playing out almost exactly like his dream, which wasn't too promising. "When's the party going to start?" 

  
"There is no party," The man said sharply, sounding a tad angry. "There's just you and me. We have a lot to discuss, you know." 

  
The hooded man stooped down, reaching out with his hand to engulf Brodey's face. He scrunched up his face, waiting for the hand to clamp down on his face and suffocate him. However, instead of feeling a final blackness surround him, he came to the stunning realization that he now had control of his arms and legs. He opened his eyes, watching in amazement as the man pulled his hand away. 

  
"I didn't expect that," Brodey said, forcing out the air that was caught in his lungs in one strong exhalation. 

  
"Get used to it," The man replied grimly as his hands reached up to remove his hood. 

  
Brodey gaped at his grandfather for an eternal, heart-stopping moment. When he finally attempted to speak he discovered that his mouth had gone dry. 

  
"I definitely didn't expect that!" He rasped. 

  
"Nice to see you again, too," R'aa'nlan commented dryly. "Now that the greeting period is over, let's get on to business."

"Business?" Brodey echoed, a hint of mistrust in his voice. "What kind of business do you have in mind? 

  
"You'll see," His grandfather taunted. "But right now I have a question for you." 

  
"Shoot," Brodey answered casually, cocking his finger like a one would with a rudimentary blaster. 

  
"When was the last time I read you a bedtime story?" R'aa'nlan asked capriciously. 

  
"A bedtime story?" The young jedi repeated, his eyebrows lifting with surprise. "God, it had to have been over a decade ago. Why do you ask?" 

  
"I think you're long overdue," The older man drawled, motioning over to a couch in the corner of the cabin. "Have a seat." 

  
"So," Brodey chuckled, feeling slightly foolish because he was twenty years old and about to be told a bedtime story. "What kind of story do you have in mind?" 

  
"Oh, the usual," R'aa'nlan said, his voice changing to the pleasant storyteller's voice from Brodey's childhood. "Once upon a time there was this handsome prince. He was out on a valiant quest. But this wasn't your ordinary quest. Oh no, this prince wasn't looking to smite the evil Ten'aaha or rescue the beautiful princess. He was looking to make a difference in the universe. He wanted to do something that would set him apart from the stale despots that came before him. So he did the only logical thing that any handsome young prince would do. He drank and smoked and drugged and partied his way through his adolescence. He used his negative behavior as a tool with which to inflict change, but he only ended up inflicting pain and suffering on those around him." 

  
"All right, I think I see where this is going," Brodey sighed, suddenly becoming weary. 

  
"Pipe down, you little twit! I'm not finished yet," R'aa'nlan hissed threateningly, then continued. "Finally things got to be too painful for those around him. Their pain started reflecting back at him, and he sank deeper into depression. That depression opened the door for the dark side, and he began to experiment with new philosophies, deeming his previous instructors unfit and biased. His new instructor, the young prince's uncle, had more sinister plans for the boy. The prince was to act as a rift that would break apart the royal family and give him ample opportunity to stage a military coup. All he had to do was convince the prince that his father and brother were the enemies. So he did, sewing the seeds of contempt and suspicion in the young man. And he succeeded. The family was torn apart and the corrupt uncle assumed the throne, but not before he told the prince to flee if he valued his life. And the prince fled. He fled far away, to a distant galaxy out in the middle of East-bumble-kriff! There he stayed, for many years, and he helped the people of that galaxy deal with their own tribulations. He flew with one of the most elite squadrons in the galaxy, forged close friendships with many influential individuals, saved the lives of thousands, and even continued his jedi training under a new teacher. The prince had finally made a difference in the universe. And they all lived happily ever after." 

  
Brodey scowled, his grandfather's mocking recount of the past few years of his life leaving him with a sick feeling in his stomach. 

  
"Or did they?" R'aa'nlan asked, his voice returning to normal and taking on a sharp edge. "Do you think that the prince ever thought about the people, the family that he left behind?" 

  
"All the time," Brodey croaked, tears beginning to creep into the corners of his vision. "He just realized that he couldn't help anybody by going back and getting himself killed." 

  
"Is that so? Did he ever stop to consider that there might be others who would help him, should he return?" His grandfather challenged sternly. 

  
"He might have, if he didn't think that everyone who could help him was dead!" Brodey cried, the tears finally springing forth from his eyes. 

  
"Well, as you can see, I'm not dead," R'aa'nlan whispered, reaching out to place a hand on top of Brodey's head. The young man felt the numbness crawl back into his limbs as he fell limply onto his side. Through his tear-filled eyes he could still see his grandfather's hand as it patted the top of his head. "Here's your chance to really make a difference. Think about it." 

  
R'aa'nlan pulled his hand away, making a slight twisting motion with his fingers. That was the last sight that Brodey saw as he plunged into blackness with only his inner monologue to keep him company.

~*~*~

"Just our luck," Jaina groaned, massaging her temples with her forefingers. She'd spent the past half hour interrogating the Shamed Yuuzhan Vong, and the only information she could extract was that he was a decoy, put there to distract Brodey from the real danger of the situation. It didn't take long before she got fed up enough to stun him. "We aren't any closer to finding Brodey and we're stuck out here unless we happen upon a miracle."

"Well, I'm currently still hungry," Jag suggested, trying to sound cheerful. It turned out to be the wrong tone to take when talking about hunger. As Jaina glanced suspiciously over her shoulder at him he recognized the ambiguity of his statement.

"No, I'm talking about food," He answered briskly. "Unless you're looking to sate a different hunger."

"Don't even think about it, Fel," A sardonic voice boomed warningly. Jag couldn't help but smile, in spite of the disappointment of yet another interruption, as he heard Kyp Durron's voice. Having Kyp and Anja there to help would make the task of staying alive much simpler. He could tell from the expression on Jaina's face that she was relieved to see them as well.

"Enough talk, more searching!" Anja ordered, clearly out of patience at this point.

"I've got bad news for you, Anja," Jaina sighed, trying to think about the best way to break the news of Brodey's capture to her friend. "It's no use searching for Brodey. He's been abducted clear off this planet."

"I know that!" Anja snapped back. "I've been traveling with Kyp all this time, haven't I? You honestly think that he wouldn't have been able to feel it when Brodey was taken? No, I'm talking about searching for food and shelter on this rock! If any of you are opposed to that idea then, by all means, stay here!"

"We're coming with you," Jaina answered tiredly, pushing herself to her feet as Kyp walked by. The jedi master made a face that all but screamed 'help me!' Anja Gallandro must have been driving him crazy all the way from the ship. As she watched him follow behind Anja into the woods she noticed something peculiar about him. For the past few months she'd been in the company of a strange, new Kyp Durron. This Kyp was more serene than before and lacked some of the inner turmoil she'd sensed in him ever since the war began. She'd grown used to the calmer Kyp, even enjoyed having him around. Now, however, the old Kyp was back. His thoughts were pure chaos. She had to figure out why.

Jaina moved to walk briskly at Kyp's side, trying desperately to match the anxious man's stride.

  
"What's the matter, Kyp?" She whispered suspiciously. 

  
"Nothing," He grunted, his eyes flickering with annoyance. 

  
"Don't give me that," She hissed. "I've been getting strange vibes from you ever since we met back up. It feels like. . ." 

  
"Go on," Kyp snapped sarcastically, grinning as she hesitated to respond. "What 'vibes' am I giving you?" 

  
"It feels like you're a little kid, who just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar," She said, suppressing a giggle at the imagery. "Is there something you did that you're guilty about?" 

  
Kyp's mind whirled as he remembered the passionate kisses that he'd shared with Anja. Anja, who was his apprentice's girlfriend. Anja, who was pregnant with someone's child, perhaps his own. 

  
"Nope, sorry," He muttered briskly, shaking his head.

'You're not going to shake me off that easily, Kyp Durron,' Jaina thought, biting her lip. She would have to test the waters a bit with him.

~*~*~

It had been many hours, an eternity, and he still was floating around in the middle of nothingness. He couldn't determine which direction was up, or how long he'd been there, but the blackness was excruciating and he longed for a way out. 

  
The sound of his grandfather's words seemed to ring on forever in his mind, forcing him to ruminate silently to himself. At first he fought it, conjuring up music or memories to keep himself occupied, but everything always led back to the same haunting point. 

  
"It's not like you've been sitting around drinking and doing spice for the past couple of years," A voice commented from behind him. He twisted his neck around, flinching as he recognized the figure's face and voice as his own. He floated, facing the mirror image of himself, and stared as the robed figure grinned back at him. "Now, if it was all up to me you would have been doing all that and then some. Maybe you could have found yourself a girl a little sooner, eh?" 

  
"I should have known better. Then I might have never listened to you," Brodey answered scornfully. 

  
"It would have been your loss," His other self scoffed. "I gave you so many years of continuous fun! You wouldn't have even found love if it wasn't for me!" 

  
"My, I guess I forgot how much of a compulsive liar you were," Brodey growled, wishing he could get up and leave. "The only thing you brought me was a whole lot of misery." 

  
"Misery? You call anonymity and the freedom to choose your own path misery?" 

  
"If the price to pay is losing your family and falling to the dark side, then yes. I am miserable," Brodey confirmed. 

  
"Would you rather be stuck in a role as a figurehead, the puppet of your father and grandfather? At least now you have some influence over your own actions," The other Brodey exclaimed in outrage. 

  
"People would have trusted me with power if it wasn't for you and your bright kriffing ideas!" Brodey yelled back.

  
"So quick to blame, are we? Remember, I am you. There really aren't two of us. This is just some crazy vision that your sensory-deprived mind cooked up," His twin claimed, looking smug again. 

  
"I don't think so. You think in a way that I haven't touched in years." 

  
"Think again. You and I aren't that much different. We both do what's most convenient for ourselves, not caring about what others think," The other said. 

  
"That's a lie!" Brodey cried adamantly. "I'm doing all that I can for anybody I can reach." 

  
"No, THAT'S a lie. You've been cruising around in a fighter with your cushy job, romping around with your girlfriend, even going out on dates while the rest of the galaxy suffers. I'm not even talking about the people of your own galaxy!" His other self accused loudly. 

  
"Why are you doing this? What is your goal in yelling at me like this? One minute you're talking about how good it is to have freedom and the next you're telling me how horrible I am for not helping others? Make up your mind!" 

  
"My goal is to help YOU make up your mind. You've made a few little steps in the right direction but you need to figure out which way you're going to go from here. You can either stand up for what you believe to be right and help both sides, or you can wallow in your own complacency. The choice is totally up to you," The other said, fading away with his words. 

  
"Wait! Ah dammit," Brodey cursed, hanging his head as he went back to thinking.

~*~*~

"He's scaring me," Sir'tesé grumbled, biting her lower lip nervously, glancing at her great-uncle as he sat behind the controls.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Him!" She said venomously, glaring as she pointed an accusing finger back into the cabin where Brodey lay motionless on the couch. "His eyes are staring blankly back at me each time I turn to look at him. It's very unsettling!"

"He's not going anywhere," R'aa'nlan said casually, chuckling a little. "I don't see what's so scary about an incapacitated man on a sleep couch. It's not like he's going to jump up off the couch and strangle you."

Sir'tesé turned the finger of accusation at her uncle, her eyes growing wider. "Don't joke about things like that! I'd practically wet myself if that happened."

"I won't, as long as you keep the 'I hate my cousin' chatter to a minimum," He replied. "And that includes the chatter that might be going on in your head."

"I can't help it. He's such a tremendous arse!" She cried indignantly, then continued with a mutter. "Simply infuriating!"

"Be wary of your anger, Siri. You knew he was infuriating when you agreed to come along with me on this mission, but you decided then that the benefits outweighed the disadvantages," R'aa'nlan reminded solemnly. "Just think hard about the benefits and breathe deeply."

Sir'tesé breathed as she was told but she couldn't clear her mind of a single, nagging question: "Why?"

"Why what?" He countered with a sigh, sensing her conflict.

"Why are we out here, thousands of light years away from home, forcing a young man who seems quite content with his current situation to come with us and solve all our problems?" She challenged, praying for concurrence.

"Because he is floundering and he needs guidance," The old man answered tiredly.

"Floundering, eh? Seems like he's doing fine to me! And what's the matter with the guidance that the jedi master gives him?" She said, her voice increasing in both volume and urgency.

"Jedi Master Durron has incomplete knowledge of the force. While Brodey may learn some things from the man he is more often the true teacher, with Durron as the padawan learner." R'aa'nlan explained. "An infant cub has a better chance of dancing the Ishnakai than Durron has of teaching Brodey the necessary techniques for defeating Kahl'aan in battle."

"Wonderful analogy," She groaned wryly. "So you figured that you, the amazing Narundi Academy Head Boy, could impart with him the knowledge that could save both him and us from eternal damnation?"

"Now who's being melodramatic?" He laughed. "I know what you're trying to say. You think we're being selfish because we realized he was the only one who could fix things back home and we kind of took advantage of his current situation and abducted him. All of this just for our own personal gain, right?"

"Something like that," She mumbled with a nod.

"Well, my dear, don't try and wear the mask of morality and expect me to ignore what's underneath. You're motivated by selfish reasons as well. You would just love it if we'd dump his body somewhere, preferably somewhere very warm and uninhabitable."

Sir'tesé flushed as the truth of his words came crashing down on her head.

"My plan has everyone's best interest in mind. You'll see," R'aa'nlan reassured her.

"Oh yeah? What about the four friends of his that we left behind on the occupied planet? Did you have their best interest in mind?" She asked, her words falling on deaf ears.

"I've been watching them. They're a resourceful lot. They'll be able to take care of themselves," He said unblinkingly.


	12. Revelations

A hand smacked Kyp on the wrist as he reached out to tear a piece of meat off the still-cooking carcass. He looked grudgingly up at Anja as she shooed him away from the food.

"Keep your dirty hands off until it's done cooking! I'm not going to go through all this trouble to keep you alive just to have you die from contaminated food," She warned him, sounding motherly.

"Look, woman, at least YOU got to eat something last night!" He growled back, rolling his eyes. "And there's no contamination with this food! Although, if you want it smothered in hawk-bat droppings then I think that can be arranged!"

"Would you two just SHUT UP?" Jag asked impatiently. "Ever since our group got back together I've heard nothing but shouting and complaints from the both of you! First you criticize each other on the best place to hunt. Then you nearly come to blows over who was going to carry the animal back, even though the majority of us agreed that Anja was capable of doing it if she so desired. Now you're arguing about when it's time to eat and it's really wearing on my nerves!"

"Awwww, but it's been fun hearing them dish out insults at each other," Jaina called from the bushes in a cheerful voice as she gathered edible vegetation for that evening's salad.

"I don't know how you can enjoy all that whining!" Jag exclaimed with frustration. 

"It's easy when you grow up in my family," Jaina quipped, winking at him playfully. "So, what happened between you two last night?"

Both Kyp and Anja froze, both balking like a tauntaun caught in a beacon of light. They exchanged nervous glances before muttering that nothing had occurred, but their hesitation gave Jaina all the information she needed.

"Are you sure?" She asked, her voice lively with laughter as one corner of her mouth rose up in a smirk.

"Yes, we just said that nothing happened!" Kyp snarled defensively.

"I don't believe you," Jaina said, almost singing. "You keep on acting as if something went awry last night."

"Yeah, I had to spend the entire evening with this loser," Anja laughed. "That's what went awry."

"No, I agree with Jaina. I think there's more to it than that," Jag commented, getting to his feet to join in the debate.

"What's so ambiguous about two people who are fed up with each other's company? Why must there be more to it?" Anja protested.

"Because I'm noticing a difference in the level and frequency of the bickering," Jag observed thoughtfully. "And because you look guilty."

"Pfft! Guilty!" Kyp scoffed in disbelief, dismissing the Colonel with a wave of his hand. "Fel, you really need to lay off the spice."

"Oooh, look, the food's ready," Anja said quickly, eager to end the discussion and get to eating.

"Great!" Kyp said, rubbing his stomach excitedly. "Let's eat!"

"Evasive, aren't they?" Jag whispered with amusement.

"Definitely evasive. I don't think we're going to get anything out of them the conventional way," Jaina mumbled out of the corner of her mouth.

"What course of action do you suggest?" Jag asked, a puzzled expression on his face.

"I think it's time we played dirty," Jaina said darkly, winking at him once again before leaving to bother Anja. Jag smiled slightly, his eyes twinkling keenly.

~*~*~

_Ch'aanlei hovered edgily outside the door, pacing along the bright white corridor as he wrung his hands on the fabric of his cloak. What was taking so long? Ch'aanlei thought they surely would have reattached his brother's arm by now, but he continued to pace as time wore on._

_He recalled, with grim satisfaction, the murderous look in his father's eyes when he caught sight of Chaser in the crowd. If not for the king's remarkable powers of self-restraint, Chaser would be in the same position as his younger brother: struggling to stay alive. But murder wasn't an option for Noaa'lan Narundi, despite his dismal family history. Arresting the youth for spice dealing, in front of a stunned crowd, sufficiently quenched whatever thirst his father had for justice; even if it was vengeful justice._

_It was quite a shame, he realized. The boy had started out at Narundi Academy with a most promising future. He had an opportunity, with his full scholarship, of which most children from his background could only dream. He was the apt pupil and the star athlete from the inner city, cast into a world quite different from the one he knew as a child. It was only too unfortunate that fate roomed him with the one young man that would change all that. _

_Ch'aanlei wasn't sure if Chaser wasn't already into spice when he arrived at Academy, but he knew his own brother. He didn't have to infer much to know that Brodey was instrumental in corrupting his young friend. If his father only knew half of what he'd discovered about the boy. . ._

_He snapped to attention as the door to the operating room swung open and a man dressed in a white tunic and pants stepped out. Ch'aanlei immediately recognized him as the healer in charge of his brother's surgery, and he could tell from the grave look on his face that all was not well._

_"Is he?" Ch'aanlei croaked, not daring to even utter the next word that came to mind. It stayed inside, catching painfully in the back of his throat._

_"He's alive," The healer replied seriously, his face never changing its expression. "But I regret to inform you that the surgery was unsuccessful. We were forced to amputate what was left of his lower arm."_

_Ch'aanlei breathed a surprising sigh of relief. It wasn't as bad as he had expected. "There are options for him, right? He has the option of a prosthetic device, doesn't he?"_

_"A prosthesis is a definite option," The healer agreed, nodding. Gravely. "However, some people do have moral objections to the implantation of such devices. It's best that I consult with the patient and the patient's family before proceeding to the next step."_

_"All right, I'll take you to my father," Ch'aanlei muttered, winding through the labyrinth of hallways to the waiting room._

_"Your Highness," The healer said, bowing low as Noaa'lan got shakily to his feet. Through the force he could sense the older man's anxiety burning like a supernova. He sought quickly to extinguish it. "The crown prince is in stable condition and I'm glad to say that he has an excellent chance of making a full recovery. However, the damage to his arm was beyond repair. The only viable option was amputation."_

_Noaa'lan looked regretful but understanding of this news, nodding as the healer continued._

_"I came here to ask if you had any objections to the implantation of a prosthetic arm to replace the old one. It's our most recommended option for younger patients with these types of injuries. Here's what it will cost," He explained, showing the king a sheet with figures. "I'll just need your signature of consent, along with one from the patient."_

_"Is he awake?" Noaa'lan asked, perking up._

_"No, not yet," The healer replied, his shoulders sagging. "The cocktail of spices he took are challenging even the best of us. I was going to ask if you might lend us a hand with purging him of the toxins."_

_The king's eyes narrowed and a look of grief mixed with disgust crossed his previously stern face. Ch'aanlei waited in anticipation, his breath caught in his throat._

_"No," Noaa'lan mumbled bitterly, his eyes growing dark. "I refuse to expend my energy to cleanse him. I refuse to send him the message that his actions have no consequences. It's his time to learn from all the pain."_

~*~*~ 

Brodey woke sharply, the familiar throbbing and dizziness coursing through his skull and down toward his extremities. His skin tingled and burned like it was searing under flames. His vision clouded as the universe began to swirl around him, and he cursed as he collapsed onto the floor, thinking of the khaki pack he'd left behind in the clearing.

That wasn't the most horrible thought floating through his mind. Dying from dehydration sounded like a pleasant alternative to living with the knowledge that his father could have prevented these years of torture, but didn't. The unsympathetic old man had turned his back on him, had loathed him, in his moment of dire need. Brodey lay sprawled on the floor, half-propping himself up on arms that trembled under the weight of his grief.

"He's awake," Sir'tesé whispered, tapping her uncle on the shoulder. The old man stirred slightly but then resumed his slumber, leaving Siri to deal with the menace that was her cousin.

What she found was the complete opposite of what she expected. She hoped to find him snooping or planning an attack on his captors; anything to have an excuse to yell at him. Instead, but not to her disappointment, she found him on the floor, making strange noises that sounded somewhere in between a sob and a cough.

"What the Sith?" She hissed in disbelief as she noticed, upon closer inspection, that he was fully drenched in sweat.

Through his tunnel vision Brodey could barely make out the figure standing above him. As it was, Darth Vader himself could be standing before him and he wouldn't care. His world was one roiling ball of agony with nothing existing beyond.

Sir'tesé approached him cautiously, still not sure what to think of the situation. Some small portion of her brain still suspected him of something devious, but the strange choking sobs sparked her curiosity. She couldn't help but investigate the cause of his odd behavior.

"Hey!" She said gruffly, stooping down to get a better look at him. "What's wrong with you, besides the obvious?"

Brodey glanced up at her with bleary, tearful eyes, momentarily forgetting about the painful twists his stomach was suffering. Her question forced his thoughts back to the unpleasantness of the dream, and the sobs became more frequent.

"Why are you crying?" Sir'tesé demanded in a frustrated tone. Not only was the boy annoying, but he was also mad as mynocks! "We're not going to hurt you or anything. You know that, right?"

Brodey continued coughing through his tears, shaking his head at her, "No, I know that," He sobbed. "It's just. . ."

"What? You need to tell me what's wrong, or else I can't help you!" She insisted, reaching out to touch him gently on the forearm.

"You, help me?" He laughed scornfully. "Now why would you want to do that? Not even my own father wanted to help me, because I'm nothing but a lousy, disgusting, DISAPPOINTING spice addict!"

The confession abruptly opened the floodgates in Brodey as he broke down into a flurry of sobs and dry heaves. His stomach lurched painfully, reminding him that he hadn't eaten now for over a day. He was too miserable to care.

"He turned his back on me," Brodey cried, trying to force the words out as his lungs shuddered from lack of air. "He could have prevented these attacks but he chose to let me suffer instead."

Siri didn't know what to say to that, but she reacted in the only way she knew how. She threw her arms around his cold, clammy shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. She didn't care if this was the awful cousin who put insects in her hair or held her head under water until she almost drowned. Something in his pitiful whimpering appealed to her motherly instincts, and she couldn't help herself.

~*~*~

"So," Jaina began, approaching Anja after they'd finished eating.

"So," Anja nodded, unsure of what she was nodding about. "So, what?"

"Look, I know that something is going on. I can tell just from observing the way you and Kyp are acting. Now, you can tell me now and save yourself the aggravation or I'll keep on bothering you about it until you tell me," Jaina said in a lulled voice, crouching down next to where her friend sat.

"Way to threaten her, Sticks," Kyp drawled, immediately attentive. "Why can't you just let it go?"

"Because I know 'it' exists!" Jaina insisted. "And I know it's something big. Sooner or later you're going to have to tell me, so why not now?"

"Un-kriffing-believable," Kyp cursed with a shake of his head.

"She's right, Kyp," Anja said uncomfortably. "She is going to find out eventually."

"Can I speak to you for a second?" Kyp interrupted, his dark eyes ablaze.

"Sure, why not?"

"In private!" He growled as he pulled her by the arm to a place out of Jaina's earshot.

"Kyp, what is your problem?" She asked, equally impatient as he. "There's no way I can hide being pregnant! Especially when I'm not a jedi but the child I'm carrying probably is!"

"Any being that exudes a life force can be detected by a jedi. It isn't limited to force-sensitive children. Plus, jedi senses aren't developed at this stage. You've only been pregnant for a day!" Kyp informed her.

"Two days," She hissed through gritted teeth as she shot him a meaningful look.

"Regardless, it's going to look awful suspicious to Jaina," He shot back. "I suggest that you wait until we can figure things out."

"I hear some awful heated whispering going on over there," Jaina sang with a smug smile. "Are you so sure that you have nothing to tell me?"

"I do have something to tell you," Anja declared. "I'm PREGUMFFTMMN!" She cried, elbowing Kyp in the gut as he clamped a hand down over her mouth.

"What did she say?" Jaina asked, her eyes going wide.

"Nothing. She said nothing," Kyp muttered, winded from the constant struggle. He yelped suddenly as Anja bit down hard on the flesh of his palm, releasing her for a split second. It was all the time she needed.

"Kyp!" Jaina cried in outrage as she stalked over and gave him a hard smack on the shoulder. "Brodey's kidnapped and here you are, screwing around and impregnating his girlfriend! How could you?"

"I don't know!" He yelled back. "And you know why? Because somebody thought it would be cute to inject me with serum that made me so delirious that I forgot almost everything from last night! So, until I get some hard proof otherwise, I'm going to listen to Anja when she says that NOTHING HAPPENED."

"If nothing happened then why are you so guilty?" Jaina challenged frigidly, placing her hands on her hips.

"Because he doesn't know what he did," Anja said, throwing her arms up in the air, and then added. "And because he doesn't trust me as much as he says he does."

"Oh, whatever!" Kyp shouted at her. "Even if it is a delusion, it's the only thing keeping my stomach lining intact. So, Anja dear, I suggest you stop right there!"

"Now who's threatening Anja?" Jaina chimed in. "Wouldn't want to upset her in her delicate condition, now would we Durron?"

"Jaina, don't push it," Kyp snarled, turning on her and pointing a finger in her face. "I'm not in the mood."

"Obviously you were last night," Jaina laughed, enjoying his reaction.

"You know, I don't have to take this!" Kyp boomed back in her face. "I don't have to deal with any of you! I'm going for a walk. When I can stand to look at any of you, maybe I'll come back!"

"Kyp, you're not going anywhere. You know our situation," Jaina said, seriousness returning to her tone.

"Screw your situation," He cussed, spinning on his heel and storming off down the path from whence they came.

"Hope he cools off soon, because I don't want to run across any Vong with only one jedi," Anja mumbled. "Not that I don't have faith in you."

"Why did you sleep with him?" Jaina asked, staring down her friend.

"I didn't," Anja stated, an appalled look on her face. "I thought I made this very clear a number of times."

"Then how did you get pregnant?" Jaina asked, puzzled.

Anja responded with a meaningful lifting of both eyebrows, indicating that the answer was completely obvious.

"Oh!" Jaina shouted as understanding dawned on her. "When?"

"For a jedi you sure don't pay too much attention to your surroundings," Anja commented, rolling her eyes.

"I was. . .preoccupied with other things," The young woman admitted, blushing slightly as she looked guiltily over at her boyfriend.

"No wonder we're stuck on this rock," Anja sighed.

~*~*~ 

"I just can't figure out why things went so wrong," Brodey muttered sadly, shaking his head as he leaned his back against the wall. "You know, between my father and me."   


"Call it a hunch, but I think all the clothes you modeled, or the lack thereof, might just have something to do with it," She said, giving him a hard stare and an eye roll. "Honestly, did you think he wouldn't flip out on you?"   


"I still had clothes covering all the important places!" He objected. "Besides, it was there even before all that. I remember the modeling contract being a tool in my quest to get his attention."   


"Oh, you got his attention, along with the rest of the planet and most of the galaxy," She snorted, crossing her arms in front of her. "I don't care how toned your abdominal muscles are. It was still nauseating to watch, and not the first time that I was embarrassed to be your relative."   


"Boy, you really know how to lift a guy up," He growled, giving her an unpleasant sneer.   


"Watch it," She hissed. "I relieved you of the withdrawal symptoms. I can just as easily bring them about. So shut it, Your Highness."   


Not another word escaped his lips for a full two minutes, but his eyes were locked with hers, glittering darkly like shards of ice in the night sea.   


"Why do you hate me so much? What could I have done as a kid to make you despise me like this?" He finally blurted out.   


"I thought I already told you enough to jog your memory," She said simply. "I guess I'll have to remind you of more, just to get it into your stupid head."   


"Fine, let's take turns complaining," He said, smirking at her as he placed his arms behind his head. It only took a fraction of a second before he was writhing on the ground, clutching the tender ear that she'd twisted around with the force.   


"First of all," She shouted loudly as anger replaced the annoyance in her voice. "You never shut that mouth of yours! Everything you say demonstrates how horribly arrogant and selfish you are! That's the part of you that makes me retch, even to this day!"   


She kicked out suddenly, making solid contact with his flank and doubling him over. He saw a bright flash of pain through his squeezed-shut eyelids as the wind was knocked out of him.   


"You think that you're entitled to have everything, especially a happy, carefree existence. And guess what? That's just not reasonable for the majority of living beings in the universe! Talk to your friend, the "Sword of the Jedi", and ask her if being a diplomat's daughter makes her immune to all the pain and suffering going on around her!" Sir'tesé snarled bitterly. "She'd tell you to shove it where the sun don't shine and mind your own business, because she knows what I already know very well. Tragedy and poverty and death don't care if you're a poor beggar or a bratty little prince in designer clothes. They treat everybody the same."   


"Don't try and lecture me about those things like I've never experienced any of them!" He replied nastily. "And don't expect me to be cordial to someone who's done nothing but smack me around and insult me since I woke up. Right after you kidnapped me, I might add."   


"I think that someone wants to vomit again, doesn't he?" She answered back with an equally vicious look. Brodey's eyes rolled back in his head as he felt the room twirling and tumbling around him.   


"I think it's time for you to stop that," He heard his grandfather state in a calm voice. As quickly as it had started, the spinning came to an end. "He doesn't need a constant reminder of why you hate him. I didn't kidnap him so he could be your personal punching bag either. He's here for a specific purpose only. Find some other way to vent your frustrations."   


"Yes uncle," She sighed in frustration.   


"So," His grandfather boomed, looking down at him after she'd retreated to her chambers. "Have you given any thought to my suggestion?"

"A little," Brodey replied, staring up at the old man with hard, cold eyes. The hint of defiance in them put R'aa'nlan on high alert; he never should have let Siri be alone with the boy, even for a second.

"And?" R'aa'nlan asked, urging his grandson to cut to the chase.

"You need to learn to relax," Brodey said, smirking a little as he cocked his head to one side. "Have a seat. This might take a while to explain."

"Try to hurry it up," His grandfather muttered impatiently. He lounged out on the sleep couch, trying his best to look relaxed but coming up short. "I have sleeping to get back to."

The young man sniffed the air suspiciously, still staring at him in that same puzzling way and trying his patience, "Still having problems controlling your blood pressure?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes," R'aa'nlan answered crossly. "Now get on with it!"

"Fine, fine. I'm willing to do whatever you need me to do on one condition," Brodey said in a low, serious tone.

"And what is this 'one condition' that you speak of?" His grandfather asked in a tired voice as he rubbed his bleary eyes with one hand.

"That you don't make me turn my back on my friends in the process," He said simply.

"I'm listening," R'aa'nlan sighed, raising his eyebrows as he placed both hands behind his head. "How do you plan to manage them all at once?"

"Simple. You train me in whatever I need to know right here, in this galaxy, as I help out my friends. Then, once I'm prepared, I go back and take care of my duties to my family and the dynasty."

"You're quite the comedian," His grandfather scoffed. "Perhaps you don't realize the sheer volume of knowledge you're going to need if you want to have a chance in hell of defeating your uncle. I'm going to need to teach you nearly every trick I know in order to give you even the slightest amount of an unfair advantage. That's going to take a while."

"Tricks?" Brodey asked, confused. "Why would I need any tricks when I have the T'naa'lichi fighting skills?"

"Well, if you feel so confident in those T'naa'lichi fighting abilities then I'll take you to Kahl'aan right now!" R'aa'nlan laughed mockingly. "He's more than twice your age, a jedi master, and he's experienced a whole lot more than you have. He's also a Narundi and, while one of my favorite pastimes is making fun of your family, I will admit that being a Narundi does come with a guarantee that you can wield almost any force power and do a great deal of damage."

"Heh, that's not entirely true. My healing powers are worth squat!" Brodey snorted.

"That's because you're more T'naa'lichi than Narundi," His grandfather said with a wink. "And I'll bet that's the main reason why you never got along with your father."

"I guess you're right. Mother hardly ever got along with him either," Brodey answered, shrugging.

"Don't go saying that like it was fact, boy," His grandfather retorted cryptically. "There's a lot about your parents' relationship that you still don't understand."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Brodey challenged. The smirk returned to his face as an unspoken message, daring his grandfather to enlighten him with new information.

"First off, they got married because they loved each other and then lied about it to you later on," R'aa'nlan smiled, taking fiendish delight in being the message bearer. "I always thought they were being hypocrites and that you should know about it. After all the grief they put me through with their relationship, it's the least I could do to them."

Brodey stared at him with his mouth flapping open and a dead look in his eyes. Then he erupted, a fountain of obscenities of every shape and color. His shouts were loud and copious enough to wake the dead, or at least Sir'tesé. He saw her standing rigidly in the doorway when he'd finally quieted down enough to take notice of his surroundings, her face a mask of uninhibited malice.

"Whatever harm you're inflicting on him better be worth the hours of sleep I'm losing," She hissed at her uncle.

"Trust me, it's worth it. I just told him the truth about his parents," He laughed back.

"They lied to me, and they tried to talk me into an arranged marriage because it was the way things were for the crown prince ever since the beginning," Brodey mumbled, shaking his head as he continued to seethe. "And it was all a mother-kriffin' lie! And you! You're enjoying this just a little too much! What do you have against me that you had to tell me that?"

"Relax," His grandfather commanded. "I have nothing against you. I just don't like that your parents lied to you. There are many things that you don't know, things that can be used against you. I'm helping you out, so you don't lose your cool later when your Uncle Kahl'aan drops the seismic charge, so to speak."

"Why, there's more?" Brodey asked, flinching in alarm.

"Oh, there's plenty more! I know secrets about your family that could make you lose your lunch more than your silly little spice withdrawal. Did your parents ever tell you the story behind your conception?"

"Oh Gods, please don't tell me I'm illegitimate," Brodey groaned.

"You were conceived the night your parents got engaged. It also happened to be the same night that your father's mother was assassinated," R'aa'nlan said gravely. "It was the night that left an indelible dark mark on your uncle's soul. It was the angriest I've ever seen him because, of course, he learned to hide it after that point, along with his true intentions."

"Huh," Brodey said, dumbfounded. "I never knew all that. They never told me anything . . . that's a LOT of stuff to swallow!"

"Your little plan sounded easy enough, eh? Well, I never promised that I'd make it easy for you. Some of the lessons you're going to learn, the techniques I'm going to teach you, will stretch you until you're hanging onto your sanity by a mere thread. But it's all necessary if you want to redeem yourself and your dynasty," R'aa'nlan responded seriously, placing a hand on the youth's shoulder as Brodey held his head in his hands, grimacing.

"We need to go back," He said abruptly, his head snapping up.

"I was getting to that," His grandfather answered in a more cheerful voice.

"No, I mean now," Brodey snapped, racing into the cockpit and manning the controls. "Something terrible has happened."

"Hey, who gave you permission to fly her?"

"The Narundis were always the better pilots," Brodey snickered, pointing to the co-pilot's chair. "Have a seat."


End file.
